“Costs of Climate Change in India Report"

Context: Costs of Climate Change in India report has been released by London-based global think tank Overseas Development Institute.
About Costs of Climate Change in India Report

• It looks at the economic costs of climate-related risks in India. It also points to the possibility of increased inequality and poverty due to climate change.

Key Highlights 
Impact of Climate Change: India is already feeling the impacts of 1°C of global warming such as:

• Heatwaves are becoming more common and severe;
• Heavy rain events have increased threefold since 1950 and
• Rising sea levels are posing new risks as a third of India’s population live along the coast.

Economic Costs due to Climate Change

• India may lose anywhere around 3 to 10% of its GDP annually by 2100 due to climate change.
• Moreover, even if the temperatures are contained to 2oC, India will still lose 2.6% GDP annually.
• In case the global temperatures were to increase to 3oC, this loss will increase to 13.4% annually.

Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Mahanadi deltas

• The report has analyzed the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Mahanadi deltas.
• In these deltas, over 60% of cropland and pastureland is devoted to satisfying demand from elsewhere.
• The report found that the climate-induced disappearance of the activity around these deltas will lead to an economic loss of 18–32% of GDP.

Increase in Poverty and Inequality due to Climate Change:

• Rise in poverty: India’s poverty rate may rise by 3.5% in 2040 due to climate change. This equates to around 50 million more poor people than there otherwise would have been in that year.
• This can happen because of various factors. Such as rising cereal prices, declining wages in the agricultural sector and the slower rate of economic growth attributable to climate change.