Ongoing Climate crisis to slowdown Global Growth: IMF

The warning came as the IMF said that in 2020, the global economy would grow by an estimated 3.3%, down from a previous forecast of 3.4%. Growth is expected to be 0.2 percentage points lower than originally projected at 3.4 percent in 2021.

The International Monetary Fund is concerned that the world economy will suffer amidst the ongoing climate crisis.

IMF cuts down growth forecast for 2020-2021

Source: IMF’s World Economic Outlook

The warning came as the IMF said that in 2020, the global economy would grow by an estimated 3.3%, down from a previous forecast of 3.4%. Growth is expected to be 0.2 percentage points lower than originally projected at 3.4 percent in 2021.

The major reasons for this fall have been attributed to the following:

  • Weather-related disasters, storms, floods, wildfires, heatwaves, and droughts have increased in the recent past. This has led to the loss of livelihood in many regions of the world.
  • The ongoing tussle between the US and Iran will spread more unrest in the already volatile Middle East.
  • Protectionist trade policies that harm the climate are also mentioned
  • Cross border migrations are putting stress on already economically affected regions
  • This downward trend is also attributed to economic surprises sprung by emerging economies like India
  •  The growing debt crisis is creating uncertainty and limiting business investment in various sectors of the world economy
  • Trade friction between China and the US is also responsible that also include other countries

Concluding the meet at Davos, it was agreed that a more cohesive approach to tackle climate change and revamp the world economy is the need of the hour.