A federally funded research group says the costs of climate change are already taking a chunk out of the growth of Canada’s economy.
In a report released today, the Institute for Climate Choices adds those costs are only the start of what’s coming.
And the report finds Canada is well behind other jurisdictions in Europe and the United States in preparing for them.
Watch: 2020 is on track to be one of the three hottest years on record. Story continues below.
It says costs from health- and weather-related disasters associated with climate change have risen to where they’re now equal to about five per cent of Canada’s annual gross domestic product, or GDP.
That’s five times what they were a decade ago.
The report says Canada needs to start evaluating all the costs of climate change, something the U.S. and Europe have been doing for a year.