New Delhi: The top ten “costliest” extreme weather events in 2022 led to more than 120 billion US dollars in damages, a new report by UK-based relief and development agency Christian Aid has revealed, adding that the findings should renew focus on how to deal with the aftermath of glaring losses and damages arising from the climate crisis.
The report lists extreme weather events around the world that called for maximum financial costs, intending to “highlight the need for more urgent climate action”. The report’s estimates are based only on insured losses, “meaning the true financial costs are likely to be even higher, while the human costs are often uncounted.”
Hurricane Ian, which hit the US and Cuba in September this year, tops the list, causing losses and damages worth over $100 billion. The drought in Europe from June to September comes a distant second, costing more than $20 billion.
The devastating floods in Pakistan, which displaced more than 7 million people, cost at least $5.6 billion, which is likely to be an underestimate, the report says.
Seven of the 10 most expensive extreme events occurred in the global north, because “they have higher property values and can afford insurance”. While the financial costs of disasters were greater in the west through this metric, the global south bore a disproportionate burden of extreme weather events, “because they will have fewer assets, less insurance and generally poorer access to comprehensive public services,” says the report.
Some examples of these events – whose costs couldn’t be ascertained by Christian Aid – include the heatwaves in India and Pakistan that killed at least 90 people, Cyclone Sitrang which killed 35 people, and floods in Malaysia that caused at least 54 deaths and forced over 1.2 lakh people to flee their homes.
The findings come a month after a global agreement was made at the COP27 summit to establish a loss and damage fund, which will assist developing countries that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
“[The report] underlines the importance of the loss and damage fund recently agreed at COP27 to provide financial support to people in developing countries who have suffered huge losses due to a climate crisis they have not caused. The international development charity is calling on world leaders to decide how the fund is managed and get money flowing into it,” the Christian Aid report says.
High emitters faced expensive disasters
Several countries faced with expensive weather events are also among the biggest fossil fuel polluters, Christian Aid says.
“Hurricane Ian in the USA, Hurricane Fiona in Canada, and floods in Eastern Australia in February costing all struck countries with some of the biggest per person carbon emissions,” the report says.
In 2021, Australia was proven to have the highest per-capita coal-based emissions. The US, meanwhile, is the world’s highest historical emitter, accounting for a quarter of all emissions causing today’s global warming. The EU is responsible for around 18 percent of historical emissions.
Two of the most expensive disasters took place in China, currently the world’s highest emitter. Many parts of the country experienced flooding from June to September that led to damages worth 12 billion US dollars, with at least 239 casualties. Reaching the other end of the spectrum, China has also been experiencing severe droughts through the year, costing over 8.4 billion US dollars. The drought was made 5 to 20 times more likely because of climate change, according to the World Weather Attribution Group.
Pakistan flood total losses at $30 bn
Pakistan, which is the 8th most vulnerable country to climate change, is responsible for just 0.3 percent of historical emissions. Ninety-four districts were declared “calamity hit” due to the floods, accounting for over half of all districts in the country, according to the World Bank.
A study by World Weather Attribution concludes that climate change could have increased the high-intensity rainfall over a short period “in the worst affected areas by about 50 percent”.
Losses are currently estimated at over 30 billion US dollars, with 16 billion in infrastructural damage. From this amount, 5.6 billion has been paid, says Christian Aid.
The report also notes that Brazil is still reeling from a drought this year that caused its agriculture GDP to drop by 8 percent, costing over 4 billion US dollars.
Drought in Horn of Africa
The Christian Aid report also refers to climate catastrophes that are still unfolding, and cannot be quantified in monetary terms, like the drought in the Horn of Africa.
Not just in 2022, but rain has been scarce for the last four years in the Horn of Africa – a region in the East of Africa comprising Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti. A broader definition, known as the Greater Horn of Africa, includes parts of Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.
At least 36.1 million have been affected, according to the report – 24.1 million people in Ethiopia, 7.8 million in Somalia and 4.35 million in Kenya.
This year, however, the situation worsened to leave 22 million people food insecure – as per the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
Food insecurity is measured at two levels of severity: low-food insecurity stems from reductions in dietary quality and variety; and, high-food insecurity is measured in terms of reduced food intake and skipped meals.
On the other hand, West Africa was inundated with heavy rainfall, causing the displacement of 1.3 million people and the deaths of over 600, the Christian Aid report says. Nearly 110,000 hectares of farmland were destroyed by the floods. In the aftermath, a lack of drinking water forced residents to use flood water.
Scientists say mobilising finance for climate-induced loss and damage should be designed carefully to benefit the most vulnerable. Attributing particular extreme weather events to climate change is challenging, particularly in developing countries that don’t have adequate weather stations or other means to collect data.
“If you require proof of the role of climate change every time funds are released, you will basically create a fund that benefits the Global North [developed countries],” climate scientist Friederike Otto of World Weather Attribution has warned.
Also read: Why Denmark is offering $13 mn in ‘loss & damages’ climate funding to developing countries