Insight - Climate adaptation should be a public good, not an asset class

Coping with more heatwaves, floods, and natural disasters will be expensive. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says developing countries alone will need to spend up to US$300bil (RM1.23 trillion) a year by the end of the decade. (A man cycles through flood water as the River Thames floods at high tide on a Springtide in London, Britain, April 28, 2021. - Reuters)

IN THE run-up to the 2020 United States election, a meme started making the rounds on Twitter. “Transport is climate policy, ” someone would tweet above an article about subway improvement. “Childcare is climate policy, ” they’d say about a paid maternity leave proposal. The quip applied to almost everything – even voting by mail.

The idea was that it all leads back to global warming and how we’re preparing for its effects. Early economic models assumed only outdoor-oriented sectors such as agriculture and tourism would be badly affected. We now know that many facets of society will suffer as the atmosphere warms. Poorer countries will generally be hit the hardest. Richer economies will see inequality widen.