SINGAPORE : WORLD BANK WARNS

SINGAPORE : If countries, sectors and firms do not transit to a a low-carbon economy and become climate resilient, climate change will have a drastic impact of the competitiveness of these economies.

This is the warning from Benoit Bosquet, the World Bank's regional director for sustainable development in East Asia and Pacific.

He was delivering the keynote address ''Climate Change and Competitiveness'' at the 2019 Asia Economic Forum here Thursday at the Bukit Timah Campus of the National University of Singapore.
[NUS]

Kicking off last month from Aug 29, the two-day forum was jointly organized by the World Bank Group and the Asia Competitiveness Institute [ACT], a regional institution at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy [LKYSPP] at NUS.

Bosquet cited finding by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], which said the world could see global warming of 1.5 degrees centigrade by 2030 and 2050s, if it continues to increase at the current rate of carbon emissions.

As the world heatsup, the risk of positive feedback in global weather systems causing ''runaway warming with catastrophic impacts'' grows considerably, said Bosquet.

For one, firms in the agricultural and tourism sector will be impacted as they directly depend upon climate conditions for the goods and services they produce.

Furthermore, the projected scarcity of water resources may affect a large number of sectors, he said.

In some regions, firms labour-productivity will be affected by the health implications of climate change. Corporate assets will be exposed to increased risks from extreme climate events like storms and wildfires, while supply chains will be impacted, added Bosquet.

The honor and serving of the latest global operational research and thinking on climate change, continues. The World Students Society thanks Xinhua.