The Philippines and other vulnerable countries in the world are expected to lose about $400 billion if stronger measures are not implemented to mitigate the destructive effects of climate change, a top official of the Vulnerable 20 (V20) group said Friday.
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima who chairs the V20 group said the initial annual loss of $45 billion since 2010 is expected to escalate to $400 billion in the next 20 years.
“If we do not push for stronger measures to arrest dangers, the estimated $45 billion annual loss of GDP potential since 2010 is expected to increase to close $400 billion in the next 20 years,” Purisima said in his opening remarks during the V20 2nd Ministerial Dialogue held in Washington, DC.
Purisima said the possible losses could account for at least 2.5 percent of the GDP of the vulnerable countries.
Purisima cited a possible sea level rise that will partially or completely submerge the island nations of Kiribati, Maldive and Tuvalu, displacing at least 500,000 people.
He said the inundation of approximately 17 percent of land areas and the displacement of about 18 million people by 2050 in the case of Bangladesh is likely.
The V20 group was founded in October 2015 in Lima, Peru composed by Finance Ministers of countries that are so-called the most vulnerable to climate change.
The V20 Group in its 2nd ministerial meet also welcomed 23 new members that will plan and coordinate to lessen and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The 23 new member economies were: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.
“Our group has now grown to 43 vulnerable, developing countries–simply no longer accepting putting economic growth, and even the lives and livelihoods of our populations at severe risk, amid the slow pace of progress in climate finance mobilization, especially from bigger and richer countries further along in development. We see the financial system as a weapon to fight climate change with tremendous potential. So we are working hard to be pioneers in concrete and innovative economic and fiscal responses to climate change. Our voice and effort has been strengthened here in Washington and we are going to keep pushing other economies, the G7 and the G20 to follow our lead. It’s a fight for our survival,” Purisima said.
The V20 called for an economic and financial revolution compliant with the new 1.5 degrees Celsius and global adaptation goals as enshrined in the United Nations Paris Agreement reached in December 2015.
To reach this goal, the V20 earlier estimated that about $90 trillion worth of infrastructure investment is needed by 2030.
