Singapore: Sixteen out of Twenty most vulnerable regions to be affected by climate change globally fall in China, with some of the most significant manufacturing hubs at risk from rising water levels and adverse climate conditions, as per the data published on Monday.
According to the XDI, climate risk specialists have done an assessment with over 2,600 regions on a global level through climate models together with environmental data and weather conditions to assess and reach a conclusion that the economic damage that temperature rises could wreak by the year 2050 in future.
The reports have also confirmed that the study is based on a 3 deg C rise in temperatures by the end of this century, under a scenario set up by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change conditions.
The data further reflects that some of the engine rooms of the global economy experience catastrophic hazards and effects such as river flooding and wildfires, along with rising sea levels, which could also affect and reduce property prices and deter investment policies, said XDI.
On his part, XDI chief executive Rohan Hamden told reporters, “We are already feeling the significant impacts of weather events around the world, and they will only increase,” he further added, “Finally, we just want to ensure that every investment decision is made in a climate-resilient way to support the climate.”
Furthermore, the industrialised Chinese coastal province of Jiangsu, which accounts for a 10th of China’s gross regional product, was ranked the world’s most likely to be impacted territory, followed by neighbouring Shandong and the Hebei’s major steel production base.
In addition, the flood-prone central territory of Henan was fourth-ranked. The shift of worldwide manufacturing to Asia has experienced a substantial increase in infrastructure financing in already unsafe regions across China, making it a more near danger to the impacts of climate change, said Mr Hamden.
“The investment in infrastructure has tended to be concentrated in areas that have traditionally been very high-risk – river deltas, coastal areas and relatively flat areas,” he noted.
Additionally, the highest-ranking non-Chinese territory was Florida which ranked at 10th place globally, with California at 19th place and New York at 46th rank. Nine states from India were also on the list of the top 50 in global numbers.
Meanwhile, the climate is likely to become increasingly decisive when it comes to determining the flow of capital, but it remains to be seen whether it will deter investment in more vulnerable regions, said Mr Karl Mallon, XDI’s co-founder.
“There is a lot to be done to work out which areas in the world are potentially adaptable and defendable and which are probably the areas we will see abandoned in due course,” he said. REUTERS
