Climate change can have significant impacts on a country’s economy, including its currency, through changes in the physical environment, such as increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters, sea level rise, and variations in temperature and rainfall patterns. These physical impacts can affect investments, human capital development, and economic growth, and can also lead to increased sovereign borrowing costs and asset value declines.

Some countries, particularly low-income and developing countries, may be more vulnerable to the physical impacts of climate change due to their lack of resources and infrastructure to prepare for and respond to disasters.

A framework can be created to analyze the physical risks of climate change on a country’s currency by using data on a country’s vulnerability to climate change, which is determined by its exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to these impacts. This vulnerability can be validated and mapped to economic losses and human lives affected by natural disasters.

The physical impacts of climate change are expected to increase in the future, and it is important for countries to consider these risks in their economic planning and decision-making.

Possible ways through which the value of currency may decline because of climate change

It is possible that climate change could potentially affect the value of a currency. There are a few ways in which this could happen:

1. Changes in the availability of natural resources: If a country’s economy is heavily reliant on certain natural resources that are affected by climate change (such as agriculture or tourism), this could potentially impact the value of its currency.
2. Changes in economic activity: Climate change could potentially disrupt economic activity in a variety of ways, such as through natural disasters or changes in the availability of certain goods and services. This could potentially impact the value of a currency.
3. Changes in investor sentiment: If investors become concerned about the potential economic impacts of climate change on a particular country, they may be less likely to invest in that country’s assets, which could potentially lead to a decline in the value of its currency.
4. Direct impact on listed companies: If a disaster affects the operations or financial performance of a company that is listed on a stock exchange, this could potentially impact the value of the company’s stock and the overall performance of the stock exchange. The stock exchange is often seen as a barometer of economic activity, and a declining stock exchange could potentially indicate a slowdown in economic activity. This, in turn, could potentially impact the value of the currency.

The impact on currency has already been observed

It is also difficult to attribute changes in the value of a currency solely to climate change, as the value of a currency is influenced by a wide range of factors, including economic conditions, political stability, and investor sentiment. However, there are some examples of how climate change has potentially impacted the value of a currency.

For example, in 2017, the value of the Caribbean dollar declined significantly due to the impact of Hurricane Irma on the region’s tourism industry. Similarly, the value of the New Zealand dollar declined in 2017 after a drought reduced the country’s agricultural exports. In both cases, the changes in the value of the currency could potentially be attributed, at least in part, to the impacts of climate change.

The international monetary system, which is characterized by a hierarchy of currencies with the US dollar at the top, is contributing to climate change by forcing poorer countries to extract and export natural resources to fuel rich countries’ imports. The global demand for a few dominant currencies creates a source of revenue for the countries that produce them, allowing them to attract capital and keep interest rates low, while also exempting themselves from the structural adjustment programs required by the International Monetary Fund for climate-vulnerable countries.

Poorer countries with weaker currencies lack monetary sovereignty and must rely on exports to finance their imports, leading to a pressure to extract and export energy and raw materials. A new international monetary system is needed to end the outsourcing of emissions and remove the restrictions imposed on climate-vulnerable countries.

It is important to note that the relationship between climate change and the value of a currency is complex and multifaceted, and it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of any particular change in value.