Giving Compass' Take:
- Olivia Rosane reports that the ten costliest climate disasters of 2022 caused more than $3 billion worth of damage each in addition to the loss of human life.
- How can you work to prevent additional climate change? how can you help vulnerable communities prepare for inevitable climate change?
- Read about disaster philanthropy in the context of the climate crisis.
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In 2022, there were 10 climate-fueled extreme weather events that caused more than $3 billion worth of damage each.
That’s the disturbing conclusion of UK charity Christian Aid’s annual review of the year’s costliest and most destructive climate disasters, released December 27.
“Having ten separate climate disasters in the last year that each cost more than $3 billion points to the financial cost of inaction on the climate crisis,” Christian Aid CEO Patrick Watt said in a press release. “But behind the dollar figures lie millions of stories of human loss and suffering. Without major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, this human and financial toll will only increase.”
“Economic impacts are always higher in absolute terms in high income countries — the economic value of infrastructure and homes tends to be higher, living costs are greater and more is covered by insurance — and therefore calculable — in financial terms. On the other hand, the death toll is usually higher in poorer countries,” the report authors wrote.
For example, the Pakistan floods were the sixth most expensive event on the list, but also the disaster with the highest human cost, The Guardian pointed out. The flooding killed 1,739 people and displaced seven million.
Read the full article about climate disasters in 2022 by Olivia Rosane at EcoWatch.