20 Nations at High Risk From Global Warming Might Halt Debt Payments, Says OECD
A report commissioned by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warns that global warming threatens to trigger an unprecedented wave of sovereign defaults across the planet. It says:
The increasing severity and frequency of climate change-related impacts are likely to trigger global debt crises and financial contagion that could, at least in the medium term, seriously affect the global economy. And, in a worst-case scenario, they could lead to the global financial system having to absorb the economic and financial shocks from the very same economic and financial crises that the global community is currently trying to mitigate.
In short, the report warns that the current economic crisis could become the “new normal.” It says:
To avoid a situation in which sovereign debt crises, sovereign financial crises and sovereign financial crises of a similar severity become recurring, it will be necessary to develop a response that takes into account the severity of the climate-change-induced impacts, the size of the debts (as well as the assets) and the vulnerabilities and vulnerabilities of the economies.
OECD says a report commissioned by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warns that global warming threatens to trigger an unprecedented wave of sovereign defaults across the planet. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The report says:
The increasing severity and frequency of climate-change-related impacts are likely to trigger global debt crises and financial contagion that could, at least in the medium run, seriously affect the global economy. And, in a worst-case scenario, they could lead to the global financial system having to absorb the economic and financial shocks from the very same economic and financial crises that the global community is currently trying to mitigate.
In short, the report warns that the current economic crisis could become the “new normal.” It says:
To avoid a situation in which sovereign debt crises, sovereign financial crises and sovereign financial crises of a similar severity become recurring, it will be necessary to develop a response that takes into account the severity of the climate-change-induced impacts, the size of the debts (as well as the assets) and the vulnerabilities and vulnerabilities of the economies.
In response to the report, the OECD says:
The report highlights the major economic and financial risks for the region associated with climate change, but also highlights