As Typhoon Doksuri aimed toward mainland China, major southeast ports were forced to turn away dozens of vessels for days, reports Reuters.
About the storm
The storm, supercharged by the warm July waters of the Pacific, delivered Beijing’s worst flooding in more than 50 years, shuttering factories, ruining crops, collapsing homes, and displacing tens of thousands of people. China’s losses from natural disasters in July and August stood at an estimated $10 billion.
But that official Chinese damage tally reflected only a fraction of the costs wrought by the typhoon. Rebuilding flood-hit areas and climate-proofing infrastructure will cost far more – with China issuing 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion) of sovereign bonds to help.
Beyond that amount, Chinese exports and imports were weaker than expected in July, at least in part from the storm, said economist Robin Koepke at the International Monetary Fund.
Such disasters will become more frequent, increasingly testing the world’s 1,340 major ports and global shipping routes.
Despite the increasing risk, companies and financial systems remain unprepared for the disruptions to come due to patchy data, short-term pressures, and an over-reliance on insurance, more than two dozen sources told Reuters.
Many companies are not reporting the risks and in some cases are not even aware of it, according to data shared exclusively with Reuters by CDP, the world’s biggest corporate disclosure platform for environmental issues.
Countries at this year’s U.N. climate conference in Dubai are grappling with an enormous deficit of up to $366 billion per year in how much money is available for adapting to climate change — including climate-proofing infrastructure like ports.
“Physical climate and natural hazard risks have barely been factored into financial markets,” said Rowan Douglas, CEO, of Climate Risk and Resilience at insurance broker Howden.
“But they must be — and fast,” Douglas said.
Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe
Source: Reuters
