The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has warned that climate change poses serious economic risks to global trade, saying that if global temperature rise reaches 3 degrees above the pre-industrial average, economic losses could equal 10 percent of global GDP.
Steeper losses near equator
The figures appear in UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update: November 2026.
The report notes that global temperatures rose 1.4 degrees above the pre-industrial average last year. It says the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree target is projected to be exceeded. Eleven of the years in the 2015-2025 period were among the hottest on record, according to the report.
Clean energy trade expands
UNCTAD calls for faster implementation of climate commitments, including trade cooperation to improve access to climate technologies. It says affordable access to such technologies is necessary for both adaptation and emissions reduction.
The report also points to growth in low-carbon industry trade. Global exports of goods linked to solar and wind energy value chains reached $1.8 trillion in 2025. Solar and wind energy-linked exports grew faster than other manufactured goods exports, the report says, describing low-carbon and sustainable industry trade opportunities as expanding.
