Climate change could cost Canada 1% of GDP by 2050: panel

OTTAWA — Climate change will cause damage in Canada equivalent to around 1% of GDP in 2050 as rising temperatures kill off forests, flood low-lying areas and cause more illnesses, an official panel said on Thursday.

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy said Canada’s Conservative government — criticized by green activists for not doing enough to fight global warming — should take measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, which most scientists blame on greenhouse gas emissions.

The north of Canada is warming up at a much faster pace than the rest of the Earth.

“Climate change presents a growing, long-term economic burden for Canada,” said the NRTEE, which the government set up in 1988 to provide advice on environmental issues.

According to the most likely scenario outlined by the panel, the damage done by global warming would be between 0.8% and 1% of GDP by 2050 and could hit almost 2.5% by 2075.

“The magnitude of costs depends upon a combination of two factors: global emissions growth and Canadian economic and population growth,” the panel said.

Depending on how fast the world heats up and what actions Ottawa takes, the NRTEE said the damage in 2050 could range from $21-billion to $43-billion a year.

The panel recommended several measures to help limit damage from climate change:

• enhance forest fire prevention, control pests, and plant climate-resilient tree species
• prohibit new construction in areas at risk of flooding in coastal areas
• install pollution control technologies to limit ozone formation.

The NDP said the report showed the Conservatives needed to do much more to fight global warming.

“Our coastal communities, our forestry industry, and the health of Canadians will all suffer unless we take action right now. Yet this out-of-touch government has produced no plan to deal with the impact of climate change,” said Laurin Liu of the official opposition New Democrats.

Environment Minister Peter Kent responded by saying the report showed the importance of adapting to climate change.

Canadians, he told legislators, wanted “a strong, stable, environmentally responsible … government to take care of the environment, and that is exactly what we are doing”.

The NRTEE said Canada would benefit from a global treaty that systematically reduced carbon emissions beyond 2012, when the first stage of the Kyoto Protocol expires.

The NRTEE largely dismissed the idea that global warming could help a northern country like Canada by reducing heating costs and making it easier to grow certain kinds of crops.

Courtesy: Reuters