Climate change puts 1.3bn people and $158tn at risk, says World Bank
Organisation urges better city planning and defensive measures to defend against rapid rise in climate change-linked disasters Flooding and drought will affect more people but few countries are planning for it, warns the World Bank. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images The global community is badly prepared for a rapid increase in climate change-related natural disasters that by 2050 will put 1.3 billion people at risk, according to the World Bank . Urging better planning of cities before it was too late, a report published on Monday from a Bank-run body that focuses on disaster mitigation, said assets worth $158tn – double the total annual output of the global economy – would be in jeopardy by 2050 without preventative action. The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery said total damages from disasters had ballooned in recent decades but warned that worse could be in store as a result of a combination of global warming, an expanding population and the vu...