Europe racks up over £430bn in climate-related losses since 1980
Europe has racked up climate-related losses of between £375bn and £433.5bn since 1980, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
In a new report on the economic impacts of extreme weather and climate across the EEA’s 32 member states, Germany, which suffered catastrophic floods last July, was found to have swallowed the highest losses between 1980 and 2020 at £89bn.
France followed with £82.5bn in damages.
Just 23 per cent of the losses were insured, which has prompted the environment body to urge governments to close their “climate protection gap”.
“Closing the climate protection gap by increasing insurance coverage can be one of the key financial risk management tools to increase societies’ ability to recover from disasters, reduce vulnerability and promote resilience,” the EEA said in its report published today.
Heatwaves caused the most fatalities on the continent, with one spell in 2003 causing 80,000 deaths.
While the UK is no longer a member of the EEA, which includes all 27 European Union members, the country’s economic hit has been forecast to be around 6.5 per cent of UK GDP – should emission levels continue on their current trajectory to 2050.
Climate change adaptation expert at the EEA, Wouter Vanneuville said: “All the disasters that we describe as weather- and climate-related are influenced by climatic conditions. But that does not mean that they are all influenced by climate change.”