- What is sustainable development?
- Key priority areas
- Climate change and energy
- What will be the impacts of climate change?
What will be the impacts of climate change?
There are four major impacts resulting from climate change, which we need to manage. Firstly, and most starkly, it will threaten the homes and livelihoods, and hence the well-being of large numbers of people across the globe.
Secondly, climate change could also undermine social progress. Social equity is likely to be worsened since poorer countries and the poorer segments of the population within countries are more vulnerable. Moreover, the costs of damage as well as the required adaptation and mitigation efforts will be unevenly distributed both among and within countries. There is also risk of further erosion of social capital and increase in the vulnerability of social values and institutions, already weakened by technological changes. Inequity could undermine social cohesion and exacerbate conflicts over scarce resources.
Thirdly, climate change will hit businesses of all sizes across all continents. Some directly, as a changing climate affects the production of their goods and services, or changes customers needs and demands. Others indirectly, through increased costs of insurance, higher costs of borrowing or reduced access to finance. All will be faced with uncertainty and additional risk, which will require us to effectively manage and plan resource use. Again, it is most likely to be the developing countries who will suffer most.
Finally, as greenhouse gas emissions accumulate in the atmosphere, there is an increased risk of major adverse effects, beyond those of the basic predictions of increased ambient temperatures and sea-levels. The stability of a range of critical, interlinked physical, ecological and social systems and subsystems could be threatened.
Updated: 08 August 2005