Climate Change Poses 'Profound Threat' to Global Growth- IMF Chief

Business Standard Climate change poses 'profound threat' to global growth: IMF chief

Climate change poses a serious threat to global growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, urging the world's top emitters to agree on a floor for carbon prices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Climate change poses a serious threat to global growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, urging the world's top emitters to agree on a floor for carbon prices.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told finance ministers meeting on climate change that countries should also ensure their stimulus funding aimed at halting the COVID-19 pandemic should target green investments.

Doing so, she said, could boost global gross domestic product by 0.7% on average in the first 15 years of the recovery.

The report said transportation is likely to become electric, in either battery or hydrogen fuel cell form, well before 2050 and much faster than many projections suggest, due to the inherent energy efficiency advantage of electric engines.

ETC works out scenarios to limit global warming to below 2°C and as close as possible to 1.5°C. For this, the world needs to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by around mid-century. It said battery-based electrification and hydrogen will also play a significant role in short-distance journeys. But the limited energy density of batteries and the low volumetric density of hydrogen may make the use of liquid fuels necessary for long distances for the foreseeable future.

These fuels could come from either a low-carbon, sustainable bio-feedstock (eg, alcohols, biofuels) or from a power-to-liquid production route (ammonia in the case of shipping and synfuels in the case of aviation).