Climate change is now a real and pressing economic threat

Climate change is no longer just affecting lives. It's hurting the economy more than ever before, whether through extreme heat or rain bringing down farm output and driving up prices, or making countries adopt cross-border tariffs to factor in the costs of carbon reduction. And it's only going to get worse.

- Puja Das

India lost 8% of its GDP in 2022 due to climate change, according to a study by the University of Delaware's Gerard J. Mangone Climate Change Science and Policy Hub. Asian Development Bank estimates the loss at nearly 25% by 2070.

"Like every year, 2024 was worse than 2023; and 2025 is going to be worse," said Chandra Bhushan, chief executive of the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST).

"Climate change is now directly impacting our economic growth and development," said Bhushan. "As the crisis worsens, it will create more poverty and reduce our growth rate."

The average global temperature in 2025 is expected to range between 1.29°C and 1.53°C above the pre-industrial levels, with a mean increase of 1.41°C, according to forecasts by meteorological departments worldwide.

The global climate goal is to limit the rise to 2 °C to avoid irreversible changes.

Between January and November 2024, the global surface temperature was the warmest in 175 years, reaching 1.28°C above the pre-industrial average of 14.0°C, compared with an increase of 1.10°C in 2023. El Niño contributed to this rise, causing heatwaves.