$120bn cost of 10 climate disasters

JUST 10 climate disasters, ranging from heatwaves and wildfires to droughts and storms, cost the world more than $120billion in 2025, a new Christian Aid report found.

- BY DANNY DE VAAL

Counting the Cost 2025 underscores the escalating economic cost of climate change, with fossil fuel companies playing a central role in driving the crisis.

The cost of climate inaction is equally clear, as every region in the world continues to be impacted and developing countries are hit disproportionately by a crisis that can still be mitigated with urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The report identifies the year's 10 costliest extreme events influenced by the climate crisis, each causing over $1billion in damage. This includes devastating wildfires in the UK, extensive droughts in Canada, a series of typhoons in the Philippines, and record-breaking fires in the Iberian Peninsula.

It examines 10 other significant extreme events that caused massive human and environmental damage, with the greatest toll felt in the world's poorest countries.

Christian Aid calls for urgent action to cut emissions and ramp up support for vulnerable communities, stressing that the impacts of these disasters can be mitigated with the right steps.

The 10 most financially costly events all had an impact of more than $1billion with the combined total topping more than $122billion in damage. Given that these estimates are based only on insured losses, the true financial costs are likely to be significantly higher, while the devastating human costs are often uncounted.