科技英语新闻:Climate change could cost Canada billions of dollars yearly, study group says

OTTAWA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Climate change could cost Canada billions of dollars a year by the end of this decade, a government funded study group announced Thursday.

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy said the cost of climate change for Canada could start at roughly 5 billion Canadian dollars per year in 2020 and increase to between 21 billion and 43 billion per year by 2050. Those costs would come from shoreline damage, public health problems, and disruptions to the economy.

It also predicted a slight increase in deaths in major cities from heat and air pollution.

The round table researchers estimated the cost of climate change is expected to be roughly 0.8 percent to 1.0 percent of GDP -- or 43 billion Canadian dollars a year -- by 2050, if the problem is allowed to worsen.

But the report did not address possible benefits, such as reduced demand for heating fuel and benefits to agriculture from extended growing seasons.

"Global mitigation leading to a low climate change future reduces costs to Canada in the long term. This reinforces the argument that Canada would benefit environmentally and economically from a post 2012 international climate arrangement that systematically reduced emissions from all emitters - including Canada - over time," the report says.

It recommends cooperation between governments, scientists and businesses to find ways to mitigate climate change and adapt to it.

Canada's Minister of the Environment Peter Kent said the government has a plan to deal with global warming issues, which will be announced next month.

"Our government has a plan, a very good plan, to meet our target of reducing greenhouse gases by 17 percent from 2005 base levels, by 2020," Kent told Canada's House of Commons Thursday afternoon.

"We are moving forward to reduce greenhouse gases and, at the same time, we are investing in programs to help Canadians adapt to climate change," Kent said.

"Today's report merely echoes what our government has long recognized; that is, the importance of adaptation to climate change," he added.

Earlier this week, several hundred people protested the government's policy of exploiting the oil sands deposits in western Canada.

Environmentalists have criticized the Canadian government for not working hard enough to reduce CO2 emissions. Last year, a coalition of global warming activists gave Canada the "Fossil of the Year" award for failing to implement the Copenhagen Accord.