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Brazil is among the 18 countries with the largest economic losses due to climate disasters. The ranking was presented Tuesday (4) at COP-24 on climate by the Germanwatch German organization, which collects climate and socio-economic data from 181 countries.
Although, in the overall standings, the country is far from the top of the most climate-vulnerable countries, appearing at the 79th place in 2017 and the 90th of the 1998 average here, Brazil occupies the 18th place of ranking of the most economically disadvantaged people. climate change.
Annual losses reach $ 1.7 billion annually due to extreme events such as storms and floods, averaging over the past twenty years.
The ranking accounts for losses directly caused by weather disasters – storms, floods, cyclones, hurricanes, heat waves, etc. – including deaths and economic losses, respectively, in relation to the size of the population and the country's GDP.
The calculation takes into account not only geographic exposure to extreme events, but also their ability to respond to them. "Climate change manifests itself in a very different way in the country and the preparation of each country to anticipate and react to the phenomena makes a difference," says David Eckstein, lead author of the study.
"It is not in the country's interest to deny that climate change is happening.If you ignore the facts, Brazil may become more vulnerable," Eckstein said. "While the poorest countries suffer more because they are unable to prepare for and recover from this phenomenon, countries that ignore climate change can also suffer significant losses, as do United States". Only the hurricanes that hit the country's east coast in 2017 caused a record loss of $ 200 billion ($ 760 billion).
The situation could be more serious for Brazil than the ranking indicates, according to Eckstein. According to him, African countries and Brazil are under-represented because the ranking only calculates direct losses and does not include phenomena such as drought, which implies indirect losses, such as supply in water and agriculture.
For the climatologist of the INPE (National Institute of Space Research) and one of the collaborators of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, Carlos Nobre, the climatic extremes have become sharply accentuated in Brazil during the last twelve years.
Three droughts hit the historical records of the Amazon during the years 2005, 2010 and 2015. The region also suffered more intense floods in 2009 and 2012. According to Nobre, the Northeast experienced the worst precipitation cycle in history between 2012 and 2017, since the beginning of measurements in the late nineteenth century
The southeast also experienced the worst drought of the historic record of 2014. Meanwhile, Brasilia also experienced its greatest drought in 2016.
"Drought affects macroeconomics: agri-food, food security, water supply and electricity production", noble list. "But what causes more deaths, is the excess rain, with landslides and floods." According to the ranking, these disasters cause about 145,000 deaths per year in Brazil.
At the top of the 2017 standings are Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka and Dominica. All three countries were affected by the hurricane season in the Atlantic. Of the 30 countries most vulnerable to disasters in 2017, 10 have been affected by tropical cyclones, including the United States.
However, most of the most vulnerable people are considered developing countries.
The report mentions recent studies indicating a clear relationship between climate change caused by the increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the record hurricane intensity in 2017. Studies suggest also that the number of violent tropical cyclones must increase with the increase of the global average temperature.
Among the policy proposals that can be adopted to cope with extreme events, the report cites the example of regional insurance: a fund created by countries in vulnerable regions already receives contributions from each country in the event of emergency. At COP-24, the Caribbean and Central American countries provided $ 19 billion to the island of Dominica just 14 days after the pbading of Hurricane Maria.
COP-24 discusses how to set up compensation for losses and losses.
79th is the current world ranking for Brazil
. extreme weather events in full in 2017
$ 375 bi.
is the approximate total economic loss (calculated on purchasing power parity, PPP).
That's why 2017 was the year of the largest climate-related losses ever recorded
The reporter went to the invitation of the NGO Bread for the World
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