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UN/DESA Policy Brief #50: International finance to support climate change resilience
In the past 20 years, weather-related disasters affected 4.2 billion people worldwide, with a large loss of life and livelihoods. The global annual average cost of climatic disasters, including floods, storms, droughts and heat waves, is estimated to have risen 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 loss associated with slow-onset climate events (e.g., sea-level rise and desertification), is likely to yield a larger figure.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #45: The nexus between climate change and inequalities
Climate change and inequality are two of the most important challenges currently faced by the international community. An extensive review of the evidence in the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: climate change resilience, an opportunity for reducing inequalities suggests that the impacts of climate change and structural inequalities are locked in a vicious cycle. Large inequalities in access to physical and financial assets; unequal access to quality health services, education and employment; and inequality with respect to voice and political representation aggravate the exposure and vulnerability of large population groups to climate hazards. Better understanding of the links between climate change impacts and inequalities will help to improve the design and implementation of policies able to simultaneously address climate change hazards and socioeconomic inequalities.