The Cost of Inaction 2024

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1. Benayad, A. et al. (2024). Why Investing in Climate Action Makes Good Economic Sense, BCG. https://www.bcg.com/ publications/2024/investing-in-climate-action. Notes: –Benayad et al’s analysis is based on a review of recent literature and expert engagement. The authors relied on the macroeconomic modelling of Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), Phase IV, as of November 2023. Some recent estimates suggest climate change will have even higher impacts on global GDP , such as the fifth vintage of NGFS released in November 2024, which builds on the damage function proposed by: Kotz, M. et al. (2024). The economic commitment of climate change. [Retracted]. Nature, no. 628, 2024, pp. 551-557. https://www.nature.com/ articles/s41586-024-07219-0. –Revision (January 2026): Kotz et al.’s research has been retracted due to data and methodological issues identified after publication. The authors have resubmitted a revised version for peer review, which widens the range of uncertainty around estimated climate damages while leaving the central (median) estimate broadly unchanged. 2. Anderson, K. (2024). What was the Industrial Revolution’s Environmental Impact? Greenly. https://greenly.earth/en-us/ blog/ecology-news/what-was-the-industrial-revolutions-environmental-impact. 3. Climate Watch. (2024). Historical GHG Emissions. https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions?end_year=2021&ga ses=co2&sectors=total-including-lucf&source=Climate%20Watch&start_year=1990. 4. Sources: –Statista. (2024). Average monthly carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere worldwide from 1990 to 2024. –Arctic News. (2024). Temperature rise threatens to accelerate even more. https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2024/07/ temperature-rise-threatens-to-accelerate-even-more.html. 5. The last time the CO2 concentration was this high, global surface temperature was 2.5-4°C warmer than during the pre- industrial era and sea level was 5-25 metres higher than it was in 1900. 6. Referring to the 10-year average global temperature, above the 1850-1900 average. 7. World Meteorological Organization (WMO). (2024). Early warning system. https://wmo.int/topics/early-warning-system#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20from%201970%2D2019,disaster%20 has%20occurred%20every%20day.&text=The%20number%20of%20disasters%20has,period%20 (19070%2D2019).&text=50%25%20of%20all%20disasters%20recorded,%2C%20climate%2C%20and%20water%20 hazards. 8. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_FullReport_small.pdf. 9. University of Oxford, News & Events. (2019). European heatwave made up to 100 times more likely due to climate change. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-08-02-european-heatwave-made-100-times-more-likely-due-climate-change. 10. World Weather Attribution. ((2024). Climate change, El Niño and infrastructure failures behind massive floods in southern Brazil. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-made-the-floods-in-southern-brazil-twice-as-likely/. 11. UN-Water. (2021). The United Nations World Water Development Report 2021: Valuing Water. https://unhabitat.org/sites/ default/files/2021/07/375751eng.pdf. 12. Biazin, B. et al. (2012). Rainwater harvesting and management in rainfed agricultural systems in sub-Saharan Africa – A review. ScienceDirect, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/ S147470651100235X. 13. Lenton, T. et al. (2023). Global Tipping Points, Report 2023. Global Tipping Points. https://report-2023.global-tipping- points.org/. 14. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. https:// www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_FullReport_small.pdf. A tipping point is defined as a critical threshold beyond which a system reorganizes, often abruptly and/or irreversibly. 15. EM-DAT. (2024). The International Disaster Database. (2024). https://www.emdat.be/. Note: EM-DAT’s database classifies disasters into two groups of hazards: natural and technological. The natural group is further classified into hydrological, meteorological, geophysical, biological and climatological hazards. This report uses the term “climate-related disasters” to refer to those events referenced by EM-DAT’s datapoint of disasters causing $3.6 trillion in economic damage since 2000, as well as to those events captured in Figure 8. This terminology makes clear that these disasters are not “natural” but related to extreme weather events, which may or may not be individually attributable to climate change, but whose frequency and intensity is amplified by climate change. 16. AccuWeather. (2024). Helene aftermath: More than 130 dead, historic flooding, millions without power amid catastrophic destruction. https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/helene-aftermath-more-than-130-dead-historic-flooding- millions-without-power-amid-catastrophic-destruction/1697545 (accessed 30 September 2024). 17. Howden-BCG. (2024). The bigger picture: The $10 trillion role of insurance in mobilising the climate transition. https://www.howdengroup.com/sites/huk.howdenprod.com/files/2024-06/the-bigger-picture-whitepaper.pdf. Endnotes The Cost of Inaction: A CEO Guide to Navigating Climate Risk 55
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