Asian Climate Change Cooperation Through Global North-South Perception Gap

Sungwon Lee

sw.lee@sejong.org

Research Fellow

Sejong Institute

At this point, climate change has emerged as the most significant existential threat to humanity. According to the 2023 Global Risk Report, failure to manage climate change was ranked as the most significant threat humanity could face over the next decade. In addition, 60 percent of the 10 threats to come are related to the climate and environment. When the impact of climate change is approached numerically, it is even greater. In the past 50 years, 2 million people have been killed by climate change worldwide, causing $4 trillion in economic losses. In 2022 alone, extreme climate change has caused economic losses of 59.4 billion Euros across all EU member states. The United States is experiencing climate change-related damage unprecedented in its history this year. Through 23 major natural disasters, it has had to bear a total of $57 billion in economic damage, and 253 people have lost their lives. During the same period, it is reported that at least 15,000 people have died in Africa due to the extreme climate. As such, no part of the world is free from the effects of climate change. However, the scale of damage caused by climate change is not the same worldwide, and the pace of recovery is also not constant.