According to the scientific evidence, climate change is likely to result in surface-water scarcity, increased frequency of storms and precipitation extremes, coastal flooding, landslides, wildfires, air pollution and droughts. This will cause loss of life, injury and negative health impacts, as well as damage to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision and environmental resources.
In the period 1995-2015, there were 6,457 weather-related disasters registered, claiming the lives of more than 600,000 people and affecting an additional 4.2 billion people in other ways. Not all countries experienced the effects of climate hazards on their human and natural systems in the same way: low-income countries suffered the greatest losses, including economic losses estimated to have accounted for about 5 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP).
The global average annual cost of climatic disasters, including floods, storms, droughts and heat waves, is estimated to have risen substantially, from $64 billion during the period 1985-1994 to $154 billion in the period 2005-2014. A more complete estimate of global costs, taking into account the losses associated with slow-onset climate events (e.g., sea-level rise and desertification), is likely to be much larger. Climate scenarios predict unambiguously that tropical areas will be at higher risk of climate hazards, including countries in Africa and South and South-East Asia, small island developing States and the countries where livelihoods depend on climate-sensitive natural resources such as agriculture, fisheries and forestry. It is in these countries where there is a lesser capacity to prevent (or even cope with) most adverse impacts.
If left unaddressed, these manifestations of climate change are likely to make it more difficult to achieve many development goals as they disproportionally affect poor people and communities, causing an increase in poverty incidence and inequalities. They are likely to slow down economic growth and exacerbate food insecurity, health problems and heat stress of the most vulnerable populations. They may also induce significant displacements of people and involuntary migration.