INTERNATIONAL DESK — • Delay could push global price tag from $36bn to $73bn; De Croo urges IMF, wealthy nations to back crisis-hit economies • China reportedly rules out hosting 2028 COP33 climate summit ANTALYA: Act now against the devastating effects of El Nino or pay double later, the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warned on Friday as delegates debated how to finance climate action at the COP31 talks in Turkey. “The needs to hedge the impact of El Nino are $36 billion if you do it now,” the agency’s chief, Alexander De Croo, said in an interview in the Turkish resort of Antalya.
“If you don’t do it, the cost will be $73bn. So the cost would be two times as high.” El Nino heats Pacific Ocean waters every two to seven years, disrupting global wind patterns and rainfall. This exceptionally strong cycle has already battered economies worldwide.
“Not acting is the most expensive climate policy that you could have,” De Croo warned, urging major players such as the International Monetary Fund to help vulnerable developing nations mitigate the damage. Developing countries want more financial support from wealthier nations historically responsible for global warming, though De Croo acknowledged rich governments face heavy debt burdens and war costs. Still, he argued vulnerable nations have had no time to recover from compounding crises: the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, “and now El Nino, and now the cost of financing”.