最新财经资讯第83期总第193期国际司20126目录全球.docVIP

最 新 财 经 资 讯第 （总第193期） 国际司 2014-5-26 目 录 World Bank：Climate Change Is Biggest Threat to Global Growth Dow Jones | May 23,2014 By Cris Larano The World Bank considers evolving weather patterns the biggest challenge to global economic growth and has urged governments to spend more to improve resilience to climate change and other natural disasters. Rachel Kyte, a vice president of the World Bank and its special envoy on climate change, said Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia that the bank until recently didnt consider climate change a major threat to global growth. As we immerse ourselves into the science, we realized how much we are not factoring this enough to our economic models, Ms. Kyte said. Floods in Thailand, storms in the U.S., droughts in West Africa that have become more frequent as well as the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand in 2011 were instructive on how climate change and natural disasters could set back economic growth, she said. Munich Reinsurance Co. in 2012 estimated that natural disasters in 2011 resulted in $380 million in economic losses, the most in history. World Bank estimates show that disasters cost four times more today than 30 years ago, Ms. Kyte said. Action that can be taken include planting flood and drought-resistant rice strains, building better houses and infrastructure as well as preventing people from living in high-risk areas, she said, as taking these steps could reduce the overall costs to an economy when disaster strikes. International relief organizations estimate that for every $1 spent to improve resiliency, governments may save between $3 and $5 in a calamity response. For the Philippines, Ms. Kyte said the World Bank is helping to design a Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Resilience Fund that would help the Southeast Asian nation cope with the aftermath of Haiyan--the deadliest storm to hit the country with damages and economic losses exceeding $12