Extreme weather has cost the world more than $2 trillion over the past decade

Author:
Oleksandra Amru
Date:

Extreme weather events associated with climate change have cost the world economy more than $2 trillion over the past decade. The USA suffered the most.

This is stated in a report published during the UN climate change conference COP29 in Azerbaijan, reports Axios.

Loss estimates in Oxeraʼs report for the International Chamber of Commerce for 2014-2023 roughly equal those of the 2008 global financial crisis. The Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce, John Denton, said that the impact of climate change on the economy "requires a response that is just as swift and decisive," according to CNN.

The reportʼs researchers studied nearly 4,000 events that occurred over a decade and affected 1.6 billion people. In the last two full years of the report alone, global economic losses reached $451 billion. According to the researchers, this is 19% more than in the previous eight years of the decade.

The largest economic losses for the period from 2014 to 2023 were experienced by the United States — $934.7 billion, followed by China — $267.9 billion and India — $112 billion in the top three.

However, the French part of the small island of St. Maarten suffered the greatest financial losses per capita — a total of $5.1 million, with an average loss per person of $158,886.

Puerto Rico, which has not yet fully recovered from the devastating 2017 Hurricane Maria, was the fifth most economically affected area per capita. The USA was tenth in this ranking.

The report also found that developing countries can be severely affected by individual extreme weather events, often causing economic losses that exceed the countryʼs annual GDP.

"Evidence from the last decade shows conclusively that climate change is not a problem of the future: large productivity losses due to extreme weather events are felt here and now in the modern economy," Denton said.

He also emphasized that todayʼs UN conference on climate change in Baku cannot be, as some suggest, "transitional" — "results capable of accelerating climate action in line with immediate economic risks" are needed.

"This must start with a comprehensive package to accelerate the deployment of financing so that all countries can transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient development without further delay," he explained.

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