Against the popular belief that mainly developing world would bear the brunt of climate change, it has been shown that the top three counties with the most to lose from climate change are the United States, India and Saudi Arabia, the three major world powers. The world's largest CO2 emitter, China, also places in the top five countries with the highest losses. Results of the study are published in Nature Climate Change.
The research has estimated country-level contributions to the social cost of carbon (SCC) using recent climate model projections, empirical climate-driven economic damage estimations and socioeconomic forecasts. Results reveal that some counties are expected to suffer more than others from carbon emissions.
The findings also point to a paradox in the climate governance arena: While the European Union has been an international leader on climate issues, the research shows the threat levels of future warming to be much higher for counties such as the U.S. and India. However, these nations do not take serious initiatives to mitigate effects of climate change!
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