In a revelation that did not exactly bring warm fuzzies to climate experts already feeling the heat, the World Bank has issued a report declaring that climate change could drive around 20 million more people into extreme poverty by 2050, which, for reference, is not a future year dreamed up by a science fiction novelist, but is now as close as the era of dial-up internet is far behind us.
The report, which landed with the subtlety of a brick in a birdbath, highlights that the effects of climate change are not being evenly distributed, with lower income countries receiving the lion’s share of high temperatures, water shortages and longer queues for climate aid that never seems to arrive. While wealthier nations may be able to invest in fancy sea walls, air conditioners and the luxury of denial, poorer communities are often left to wrestle with droughts, floods and remarkably little assistance beyond sympathetic expressions at international conferences.
According to the World Bank analysts, if strong climate action is not taken pronto and emissions continue to rise like the collective blood pressure of climate scientists, there will be severe consequences for global development. The report warns that climate shocks such as heatwaves and hurricanes are threatening to roll back years of progress, like an unfortunate game of environmental snakes and ladders where the ladder is melting and the snake has unionized.
The organization suggests that clean energy investment and improved climate resilience are essential steps in saving both the planet and the people most at risk of losing everything from their crops to their homes and quite possibly their patience. However, funding for such efforts still resembles a trickle rather than the much-needed flood, giving the phrase ‘too little too late’ an alarming sense of annual recurrence.
“We have a narrow window of opportunity,” the World Bank’s chief economist for sustainable development, Stephane Hallegatte, said, while presumably gazing in the direction of that rapidly closing window.
The report also rather pointedly mentions that climate adaptation is not only morally sound but also makes sound economic sense, which is the sort of practical advice one might hope would inspire immediate action, were it not delivered to a world preoccupied with more pressing concerns such as how to subtly ignore climate reports while scrolling past them on social media.
In conclusion, with a rising thermometer and a shrinking margin for error, the message seems clear: either the world invests in fighting climate change, or it invests in surfboards for inland communities.
The climate is heating up, and so is the tab.