Climate change is among humanity’s greatest challenges, and the Middle East and Central Asia region is on the frontlines of its human, physical and economic ramifications. Much of the region lies in already harsh climate zones, where global warming exacerbates desertification, water stress, and rising sea levels.
This paper highlights macro-critical climate adaptation challenges for the region. Leveraging a newly assembled comprehensive database on climate and macro-financial indicators, it derives novel climate risk profiles and empirical evidence to underpin its central message: adapting to climate change, by boosting resilience to innate climate stresses, is a critical priority for economies.
The paper’s insights can help policymakers devise country-specific adaptation plans as part of holistic climate strategies that also include mitigation and transition risk management.