Supplying Your Demand: World Bank correlates standards of living with climate change crisis

Climate change has been a hot issue lately, especially with the rollout of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal. Her urgent response to climate change is appropriate. We can even see the consequences of this phenomenon for ourselves with the increased frequency and damage of forest fires and hurricanes.

While those turbulent conditions — a byproduct of climate change — cause immediate, serious consequences, climate change is far more worrying because of its long-term implications. Recently, its severity has been emphasized by marginally related organizations, such as the World Bank, joining the conversation.

I like to think of the World Bank as the United Nations of financial institutions. It is not tied to one country in particular and aims to advance the entire world’s economic development. In fact, the World Bank’s website lists its mission is to “promote shared prosperity” and “end extreme poverty.”

So on paper, the institution appears to have no immediate connections to the climate change conversation. Its expected stake in climate change is minimal.

However, some people may not know the consequences of environmental deterioration goes beyond the purview of endangered animals and the gaping hole in the ozone layer — though those issues are important. Climate change can actually worsen our standards of living, and by extension, our happiness.

“Standard of living” is more than a buzzword for economists. It refers to wealth, comfort, environmental quality and safety among other elements  — the tangible factors that define how well one is living.

So how does climate change have anything to do with standard of living? For regions whose economy relies heavily on agriculture — primarily developing countries — an unpredictable climate can lower farmers’ productivity. The ability to farm efficiently to maximize profit is dependent on being able to accurately predict what the weather will be like and expected precipitation for the rest of the season.

Climate change reduces our abilities to predict certain kinds of weather forecasting, such as torrential downpours, and consequently hurts economic output. In 2017, 15.5 percent of India’s GDP came from agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Changing temperatures and monsoon rainfall patterns are projected to reduce India’s entire GDP by as much as 2.8 percent by 2050, according to the World Bank.

This consequence will undoubtedly get exacerbated by the snail-like pace of the fight against climate change. As a society, we cannot be doing things like pulling out of the Paris Agreement to make a point about political clout and add insult to injury. Climate change is our reality, and we need to be doing more than drinking Starbucks out of paper straws to stop it.