A faith-based coalition’s annual assessment of the economic effects of climate-driven natural disasters has shown that each of the most extreme weather events of 2022 resulted in damages of over $3 billion.
The report titled “Counting the Cost 2022: A Year of Climate Breakdown”, was published by Christian Aid, a London-based relief agency of over 40 U.K. and Irish churches.
It noted that the majority of estimates are only based on insured losses and added that genuine financial costs are probably higher while human costs are frequently unaccounted for.
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The terrible weather that resulted in food insecurity, drought, mass displacements, and fatalities was one of the incidents that were emphasized.
More than 36 million people in East Africa were impacted by a terrible drought, many of whom were on the verge of famine. In West Africa, 1.3 million people were forced to flee their homes due to floods that claimed over 600 lives in Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, and Niger, while East Africans have been suffering from drought.
According to the report, Hurricane Ian, which hit the United States and Cuba in September, cost over $100 billion and forced 40,000 people to relocate. While floods in Pakistan claimed more than 1,700 lives and caused seven million people to be homeless, the drought in Europe cost $20 billion.
The report, which concentrated on financial costs, found that while some of the most devastating extreme weather events occurred in poorer countries which have made little or no contribution to the climate crisis and have the fewest buffers to withstand shocks, the losses were higher in richer countries because they have higher property values and can afford insurance.
Christian Aid emphasized that these extreme events also highlight the importance of the Loss and Damage Fund, which was recently agreed upon at COP27 to provide financial support to people in developing countries who have suffered significant losses as a result of a climate crisis they have not contributed to.
Story was adapted from The Guardian.
