Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka's exposure to wildfires, floods, major storms and also water shortages mean South Asia has 10%-18% of GDP at risk, roughly treble that of North America and 10 times more than the least-affected region, Europe. "To different degrees, this is an issue for the world," said S&P's top government credit analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo. For most countries, exposure to, and costs from climate change are already increasing. Over the past 10 years, storms, wildfires and floods alone have caused losses of around 0.3% of GDP per year globally according insurance firm Swiss Re. S&P's Sifon-Arevalo said that some countries have already suffered credit ratings downgrades due to extreme weather, such as some Caribbean islands after major hurricanes.

Source: Ethiopian News April 27, 2022 13:52 UTC