OBR highlights risks linked to climate change: comment

"The OBR’s latest report is a stark warning of threats to the UK’s public finances, with climate change making it into the top three long-term pressures on the public purse. It’s a sobering reminder if one were needed of the range and breadth of climate change impacts, highlighting the enormous burden that climate related damages will place upon the UK economy, particularly as a result of heatwaves, flooding and coastal erosion.

“The OBR’s assessment is also clear that the impacts get more severe and the costs rise the worse the problem gets; for every additional degree of warming, the financial hit gets bigger – and these are exacerbated by external factors like volatility in fossil fuel markets, with the recent gas crisis, exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, piling billions onto UK spending in the last few years. Climate change is also affecting food imports, which the UK is particularly vulnerable to, as we import half our food from overseas [2,3], cementing the role of climate change as a central factor in many of the risks facing us and countries around the world.

“Until we get to net zero emissions, these pressures will remain and continue to worsen; that’s why it’s vital to keep working towards this goal both for the UK’s self-interest and to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.”