Climate Change Is A Shadow "Financial Crisis" Costing The World $2 Trillion

A new report warns about the economic impact of climate change and natural disasters, estimating that their total damage has risen into the trillions.

The damage totals are comparable to the economic impact of the 2008 global financial crisis.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) reported that climate-related extreme weather between 2014 and 2023 has caused $2 trillion in damages, Samantha Delouya reported for CNN.

The report coincided with the UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan.

The damage totals are comparable to the economic impact of the 2008 global financial crisis. The ICC is urging governments and businesses to speed up policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which directly contribute to global climate change.

“Just as the global financial crisis prompted a swift and concerted response from world leaders, we need governments to understand that the economic impact of climate change requires a response of similar speed and decisiveness,” said John W. H. Denton AO, the secretary-general of the ICC, in a statement to CNN.

The ICC’s report was released less than a week after Donald Trump was reelected as U.S. president. Trump has pledged to roll back climate regulations, including limits on pollution from tailpipes and power plants.

During his previous term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, arguing that it placed an unfair economic burden on Americans.

The ICC report assessed nearly 4,000 weather events across six continents over the last decade, calculating both the direct monetary toll from the destruction of homes, businesses, and infrastructure, as well as the impact of extreme weather on human productivity.

The report found that 1.6 billion people have been affected by these events, with an 83% increase in recorded climate disasters between 1980–1999 and 2000–2019.