The Hill, October 13, 2020

Weather and climate-related disasters could cost $20 billion annually by 2030

A new report offers insights and steps into climate change’s effect on severe weather.

Rampant wildfires, cataclysmic hurricanes and tropical storms, and outbreaks of tornadoes are just some of the notable weather events to occur in the U.S. during 2020, a year already fragmented beyond recognition by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With scientists and experts warning that these escalating events are a result of climate change, the United Nations (U.N.) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report warning that these natural disasters are strongly attributed to climate change, and should they continue, are poised to cost about $20 billion in annual economic losses by 2030.

“The year 2020 has highlighted the importance of building broad resilience in vulnerable developing countries, to climate change but also to health and economic risks,” Mikko Ollikainen, the manager of the Adaptation Fund, says. “Climate services are critical in achieving resilience, and the Fund plays a crucial role in this partnership through its concrete adaptation projects on the ground serving the most vulnerable communities, with about 20 percent of its portfolio dedicated to supporting countries in building resilience through Early Warning System and Disaster Risk Reduction projects.”

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