Extreme weather events have cost the global economy over 2 trillion dollars in the last decade, according to a report commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce.
An analysis of 4,000 extreme weather events related to climate, from sudden floods that destroy homes in an instant to slow droughts that ruin farms over the years, showed that economic damages reached 451 billion dollars in just the last two years, reports The Guardian.
The figures reflect the total cost of the consequences of extreme weather events, rather than the part that scientists can attribute to climate disaster.
These figures come in the context of world leaders discussing how much wealthy countries should pay to help poor countries rebuild their economies, adapt to a warmer world, and cope with the damages caused by increasingly violent weather conditions.
"The data from the last decade clearly show that climate change is not a future problem. Major productivity losses caused by extreme weather events are being felt here and now by the real economy," said John Denton, Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which commissioned the report.
The report found a gradual trend of increasing costs generated by extreme weather events between 2014 and 2023, with a peak in 2017 when an active hurricane season hit North America.
The United States suffered the highest economic losses over the 10-year period, with 935 billion dollars, followed by China with 268 billion dollars and India with 112 billion dollars. Germany, Australia, France, and Brazil all entered the top 10.
Fire, water, wind, and heat have taken more and more dollars out of government balance sheets as the world has become wealthier, people have settled in disaster-prone regions, and fossil fuel pollution has heated the planet.
However, until recent years, scientists have struggled to estimate the extent of the role played by humans in transforming extreme weather events through greenhouse gases that warm the planet.
According to a study conducted last month, climate disaster was responsible for more than half of the 68,000 heat-related deaths during the hot summer of Europe in 2022 and doubled the chances of extreme precipitation levels affecting Central Europe in September of this year. In other cases, researchers found only mild effects or no connection to the climate at all.
The ICC urged world leaders to act more swiftly in providing funds to countries in need of assistance to reduce their pollution and develop in a way that can withstand the shocks caused by violent weather events.
"Funding climate actions in developing countries should not be seen as an act of generosity from the leaders of the world's wealthiest economies," Denton said. "Every dollar spent is ultimately an investment in a stronger and more resilient global economy, from which we all benefit."