Adapting to the damage caused by climate change will cost hundreds of billions of dollars a year, a group of scientists said on Thursday – putting the price tag far higher than previously estimated.

The worldwide cost of adaptation – including better flood defences, improving transport infrastructure and better resilience to drought – would probably reach sums in the region of $140bn to $210bn a year by 2030, said the group of climate experts brought together by Imperial College London and the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development.