The challenges posed by frequent extreme weather events and the necessity to implement measures to address them were highlighted by guests at the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s just-concluded Summer Davos held in Dalian City of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
Formally known as the 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, the three-day event drew to a close on Thursday after gathering some 1,600 leading figures from the public and private sectors across nearly 80 countries and regions to explore new pathways for growth and discuss a wide range of global issues from an economic perspective.
Speaking at a seminar, Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based advocacy group, pointed to how extreme weather is having a huge impact on food security.
"When you think about that context in the reality of extreme weather and changing weather patterns, you see dramatic shifts in the productivity of the world's places where food is grown and where it's provisioned. And it has huge implications not just for what we can and will be eating, but for the people, those producers who are providing for us on a daily basis," she said.
Multiple grain-producing regions worldwide have been affected by extreme weather conditions since the second quarter of this year, such as a prolonged drought in the Black Sea region and severe flooding in Brazil all having a major agricultural impact.
Meanwhile, governments and institutions around the globe say they have undertaken relevant work to address the risks posed by such extreme weather and climate change, and many experts suggest that utilizing technological means to provide better forecasts and assessment of weather-related risks is an essential part of this process.
"A critical step in the resilience curve is one where vulnerability is correctly assessed. And so to be able to plan out 20-30 years out with planning and then permits is essential. Of course in a risk prone area, one can still build an economic activity, but needs to do so with an understanding of the risks that are to come," said Veronica Scotti, chairperson of Public Sector Solutions under the Swiss Re Group, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies.
At the same time, many believe that weather risks can also be managed through financial means. In China, there are several commodity futures exchanges using financial instruments to manage the threats brought by extreme weather on agricultural production.
"The combination of temperature index and weather derivative models has gradually formed a risk-complementary, mutually beneficial, and commercially-sustainable transfer mechanism to assess weather risks. It has opened up a pathway for agricultural production to address climate change. Market participants also call for the prompt introduction of temperature futures and share options to hedge different weather derivative risk exposures within the market, as it can further enhance risk management efficiency," said Hao Weibin, assistant director of the Futures Derivatives Department at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
Need to address impact of extreme weather events highlighted at Summer Davos
Need to address impact of extreme weather events highlighted at Summer Davos
