Climate change threatens £110trn worth of assets

Lack of preparation in urban areas at a time when the risk of climate change-related natural disasters is rising poses a risk to $158trn (£110trn) worth of assets by 2050, according to the World Bank.

In a new report, the global development lender said an expanding population was resulting in people cramming into "low-lying, fast-growing cities that are already overcrowded" – at a time when sea levels are rising as a result of global warming.

It reckons that without preventative action, especially in terms of future planning for cities, assets worth twice the total annual output of the global economy were at risk by the middle of the century. This would affect more than 1.3bn people, disproportionately concentrated in developing economies.

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"Cities and coastal areas are woefully unprepared for the kind of climate and disaster risk now facing our world," John Roome, the World Bank Group's senior director for climate change, told Reuters.

The bank says risks can be mitigated as cities expand by putting in place "more resilient infrastructure". This could include everything from restrictions on using too much groundwater – "one of the reasons cities from Tokyo to Jakarta are sinking" – to planning for more green space and situating new schools and apartments above flood-prone zones.

Trends in climate-related disasters are clear. The Guardian notes that total annual damage, averaged over a 10-year period, had risen tenfold from $14bn (£10bn) during 1976 to 1985 to $140bn (£100bn) between 2005 and 2014. "The average number of people affected each year had risen over the same period from around 60 million people to more than 170 million," it added.

Oxfam has called on rich countries to make good on the pledges made at the Paris conference in December to provide funding to help developing countries adapt to the effects of global warming.

It said: "International support for adaptation falls well short of what is needed. Latest estimates indicate that only 16 per cent of international climate finance is currently dedicated to adaptation – a mere $4bn–$6bn per year of which is public finance."