Citation
(2012), "Warming may cut oceans value by €1.5 trillion", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 4 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijccsm.2012.41404caa.004
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Warming may cut oceans value by €1.5 trillion
Article Type: News From: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Volume 4, Issue 3
Global warming may cut the annual economic value of oceans by $2 trillion (€1.5 trillion) by 2100 – equivalent to 0.37 per cent of the world’s GDP – if CO2 emissions follow a ”business as usual” scenario, according to the Stockholm Environment Institute.
The figures are among the preliminary results of a report assessing the combined threats facing marine environments, including rising sea-levels, pollution and the overuse of marine resources. Together, these could have a far bigger impact than the scale of each individual threat might suggest, the report warns.
It suggests that, although 40 per cent of marine environments already face more than one major threat, policymakers still tend to focus on single issues.
The institute claims this is the first time an attempt has been made to calculate the costs of climate in this way. The figures suggest some of the greatest economic impacts will be on tourism, through the loss of the carbon sinks, and because of rising sea-levels.
Rapidly cutting emissions to limit an increase in temperature to 2.2 degrees would save $1.4 trillion, it notes. The full report will be published in the summer 2012. Details can be seen at: www.sei-international.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-Preview-ValuingTheOcean-DraftExecutiveSummary.pdf