Date of the report
August 2024
Author of the report
Paul Watkiss Associates, supported by SWM
Purpose of the report
This report presents the findings of the study ‘An Economic Impact Assessment of Climate Change on the Economy of the West Midlands Combined Authority Region’. The study was undertaken by Paul Watkiss Associates (PWA) and Sustainability West Midlands (SWM) and was commissioned by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
The study undertakes three separate strands of analysis for the WMCA area, aimed at answering three distinct questions which seek to understand the local economic impact of climate change:
- How will global climate change affect the local economy? – the study has analysed the potential macroeconomic impact of climate change and what it could mean for local economic growth in the WMCA area.
- What are the future economic costs of key local impacts of climate change? – the study has analysed evidence on a selection of the most important future risks and opportunities and valued these in economic terms.
- How much are extreme weather and climate impacts already costing the economy? – the study provides three case studies of the existing economic costs of extreme weather in recent years to illustrate that extreme weather is already creating economic costs in the WMCA area
Some of these costs are already being felt today. Case studies on three recent extreme weather events estimates these cost the region a total of £21m. These are likely to be underestimates given significant data gaps.
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Further Support
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