Report: Climate change to worsen inflation in Africa

A new study has found that global warming and heat waves will increase food prices and inflation rates in Africa.

The report, co-authored by four environmental scientists, was released on Thursday by the European Central Bank.

The report found that temperature rise due to climate change would increase the cost of food worldwide between 1.49 and 1.79 percentage points every year by 2035.

The report observed that poorer and developing countries (hotter regions) would feel the impact on food prices and inflation most, from future warming.

“We find that the temperature conditions projected for 2035 under future warming imply upward inflationary pressures across all of the world,” the report reads.

“Future climate change will amplify the magnitude of such heat extremes, thereby also amplifying their potential impact on inflation.

“Exogenous pressures on inflation from projected future temperature conditions are generally larger in the global south, with the largest pressures found across Africa and South America robustly across specifications.”

The report suggested that adaptation through adjustment would significantly reduce further impacts.