UN Climate Chief, Simon Stiell, has raised awareness of the economic impact of the climate crisis, warning that climate-related disasters are increasingly driving up living costs for households and businesses worldwide.
Speaking at COP29, while addressing world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Stiell cautioned that without decisive, collective climate action, the worsening effects of global warming could lead to “inflation on steroids,” increasing the cost-of-living crisis and placing economies under immense stress.
Climate crisis as an economy killer
In his address to world leaders, Stiell cautioned that worsening climate impacts will put “inflation on steroids” unless every country can take bolder climate action. He emphasized that the worsening effects of climate change in today’s political cycle were already carving up to 5% off the GDP of many countries.
“We used to talk about climate action as being mostly about saving future generations,” Stiell said “But there has been a seismic shift in the global climate crisis. The climate crisis is fast becoming an economy killer. Right now.”
Stiell further explained that the climate crisis was directly contributing to the cost-of-living crisis, as climate disasters push prices higher across the globe. “The climate crisis is a cost-of-living crisis because climate disasters are driving up costs for households and businesses. Worsening climate impacts will put inflation on steroids unless every country can take bolder climate action.”
Learning from past mistakes
Stiell also urged world leaders to learn from the inflation spike caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, where global supply chains were severely disrupted due to slow collective action. He emphasized the need for swift, coordinated efforts to avoid similar pitfalls in the context of climate change.
“Let’s learn the lessons from the pandemic – when billions suffered because we didn’t take the collective action fast enough when supply chains were smashed,” Stiell said. “Let’s not make that mistake again.”
Climate finance as a solution
To counteract the economic damage caused by climate change, Stiell called for greater investment in climate finance, referring to it as “global inflation insurance.” He stressed that allowing the issue of climate costs to fall down the political agenda would be disastrous for global economies.
“Rampant climate costs should be public enemy number one, Letting this issue languish halfway down cabinet agendas is a recipe for disaster.”
