The economic impact of climate change on four of south-east Asia's biggest nations will be 2.5 times more severe than the global average by 2100 if carbon emissions continue at their current level, the Asian Development Bank warns in a new study.
Annual losses incurred by Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are predicted at $230bn (€175bn, £157bn), or 6.7 per cent of their combined economic output, it said. This compares with a global mean prediction of 2.6 per cent.
The four are likely to be hit so hard because they have long coastlines, largely agrarian economies and are experiencing rampant deforestation. They will thus be more at risk from rising sea levels, higher temperatures, falling agricultural yields and more frequent extreme weather events.