Interview: Climate change directly affecting development: former World Bank VP

"This has been now translating into loss of income, into loss of life and loss of livelihood from Pakistan to Australia, to China, all over the world," said Thomas, currently director-general of Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) at the World Bank Group.

According to a recent IEG report, the frequency of disastrous heat waves (such as in Europe in 2003 and in Russia in 2010) and floods (such as Pakistan 2010) may have doubled, due to climate change. Sea level may rise two to five feet this century, imperiling coastal cities, populous deltas and low-lying islands. Unabated, climate change could derail development, with a one-in-fourth chance of an 11 Fahrenheit rise this century.