Climate change may cost Brazil $2.1 trillion by 2050: study

BRASILIA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Brazil will suffer a financial loss of up to 3.6 trillion reais (2.1 trillion U.S. dollars) by 2050 due to climate change, according to a study published on Wednesday.

Sectors such as agriculture and energy in the Amazon, the coastal areas and the northeastern part of the country are likely to sustain the hardest impact, said the study by 11 research institutions.

The work was inspired by the Stern Review, a study carried out by British researchers in 2006, which predicted that climate change might end up consuming some 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Climate change could take a hard toll on economic activities, said project coordinator Carolina Dubeux. "There is a downward trend in GDP in terms of climate change, and in Brazil it will increase regional disparities," he said.

The paper simulates two growth scenarios for Brazil, one based on presumed cut in carbon emissions, and the other on a "dirty" economy.

That difference could be remarkable and tend to widen in the second half of the century, said the researchers.