Rising debt costs would be just one extra facet of the overall economic damage which climate change is already causing. While developing nations with lower credit scores are seen hit hardest by the physical effects of climate change, nations with the highest ranking credit scores were likely to face more severe downgrades simply because they have furthest to fall. The findings come as regulators around the world seek to better understand just how much damage to economies and the global financial system to expect from climate change. A European Central Bank paper last year urged greater clarity in how those risks were being built into credit ratings. S&P Global Ratings has published the environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles used in its credit ratings which include reference to the risk of economic damage from climate change and the costs associated with mitigating it.

---

Persons: Heatwaves, Patrycja Klusak, Klusak, Fitch, Mark John, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Management, University of East Anglia, UEA, University of Cambridge, Insurance, Allianz, Cambridge, Central Bank, Thomson Locations: Paris, China, India, United States, Canada, Cambridge