A race against time and against ourselves. Against the dangerous idea that we can’t do this, that there is no way.
Unlike most races, it won’t have one winner. In this race we all win, or we all lose. Winning it requires a radical, unprecedented level of collaboration, from all corners of our world. From our cities, businesses, regions and investors. From people everywhere.
Together we’re racing for a better world. A zero carbon and resilient world. A healthier, safer, fairer world. A world of wellbeing, abundance and joy, where the air is fresher, our jobs are well-paid and dignified, and our future is clear.
To get there we need to run fast, and get faster. We need more and more people to join the race, and right now. This is not about 2050, it’s about today.
Together, we can do this. And we’re already on our way.
Climate change: This is the impact of extreme weather events on the economy
By Katharina Buchholz, Data Journalist, Statista | September 14, 2021
Hurricane Ida, the fourth and to-date strongest storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, has made its way to New York City, albeit as a much weaker tropical storm. Nevertheless, Ida caused widespread flooding and a state of emergency declaration in the United States’ biggest city. The current season has so far produced four out of the six to ten predicted hurricanes, but the most active and dangerous time between August and October is still underway.
Over the past decade, global economic losses from weather events like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires have grown more costly. During the first decade of the 21st century, there were only two years when weather disasters cost more than $200 billion (including 2010). In the second decade, those $200 billion-dollar-a-year losses seem to have become more normal, with seven out of ten years grossing over $200 billion in global losses from weather events. The costliest year on record was registered in 2017, totaling over $470 billion in losses, including those from major Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma. All in all, weather damages totaled approximately $2.5 trillion around the globe between 2011 and 2020, up almost 50 percent from the 2001-2010 figure.
As part of the 2020 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight report, insurance service provider AON points out that due to the influences of climate change, it is expected that “the storms which do develop have the potential to be larger, more intense, and pose a greater risk to coastal and inland vulnerabilities.
Weather damages totaled approximately $2.5 trillion around the globe between 2011 and 2020.
Image: Statista
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The Race to Resilience (R2R) has launched a new tool to help support the campaign’s mission to increase the resilience of four billion people living in vulnerable communities.
A new initiative launched at COP26 is already enhancing the livelihoods of farming families and restoring degraded agricultural land across six countries – Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
All actors and initiatives play their part in shipping’s transition and collectively come together to achieve a common goal to decarbonize shipping in line with the 1.5°C trajectory of the Paris Agreement. Read our joint statement.
New signatories are joining the Race to Resilience daily. Our city and subnational government signatories have more than doubled since COP26, from 30 signatories at COP26 in 2021 after the launch, to over 70 at COP27, with more cities and subnational governments pledging to join the global campaign every day.