Disasters fuelled by climate change exert massive toll

KUALA LUMPUR • From Hurricane Ida in the United States to devastating floods in China and Europe, climate change-fuelled disasters have cost the world dearly in 2021, with the poor and the rich hit hard, researchers said yesterday.

Ten of this year's most destructive weather events cost a combined US$170 billion (S$231 billion) in damage, said a report by Christian Aid charity.

Floods, storms and drought also killed hundreds and displaced millions of people across some of the poorest regions, highlighting the rising injustice of impacts as the planet warms, the authors said.

"The costs of climate change have been grave this year," said Ms Kat Kramer, climate policy lead at Christian Aid and author of Counting The Cost 2021: A Year Of Climate Breakdown.

"While it was good to see some progress made at the UN COP26 summit, it is clear (we are) not on track to ensure a safe and prosperous world," she added, referring to the global climate conference held in Glasgow last month.

The report identified 15 of the most destructive climate disasters of the year, including 10 that each caused US$1.5 billion or more in losses, with damage wrought by wild weather felt everywhere from Australia to India, South Sudan and Canada.

The report does not list the recent flooding in Malaysia or damage from Typhoon Rai in the Philippines. But it notes that climate change is increasing the frequency of intense rainfall events. "As the planet warms and sea surface temperatures increase, experts expect that typhoons, in the Philippines and elsewhere, will become stronger."

Growing calls from at-risk nations to establish a new fund to help cover climate-linked "loss and damage" in a hotter world must be a "global priority" in 2022, said Christian Aid's climate justice adviser Nushrat Chowdhury in Bangladesh.

Mr Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a Nairobi-based think-tank, noted that Africa had borne the brunt of some of the most devastating - if not the most expensive - impacts this year, from flooding to drought.

"(2022) needs to be the year we provide real financial support for those on the front line of the crisis," he added.

Hurricane Ida, which struck the US in August, topped the list for damage at US$65 billion. The fifth-strongest hurricane to make landfall in the country killed 95 people and left many with destroyed homes and no power.

Earlier, a winter storm that hit Texas in February caused a massive power outage and racked up US$23 billion in losses.

Severe flooding that swept western and central Europe in the summer of 2021 caused huge losses of US$43 billion and a death toll of more than 240.

Four of the 10 most expensive disasters occurred in Asia, with the costs of floods and typhoons in the region adding up to a combined US$24 billion.

Some of the disasters hit quickly and forcefully. Cyclone Yaas, which hit India and Bangladesh in May, led to US$3 billion in damage in just a few days, and forced more than 1.2 million people to flee their homes in low-lying areas.

In China, torrential rain in the central province of Henan caused huge floods in July, with damage of US$17.6 billion and 302 reported dead. The rain that fell in the provincial capital Zhengzhou over three days was nearly equivalent to its annual average.

The real costs of extreme weather are likely to be more than the report's estimates, which are mostly based on insured losses.

Some weather extremes have a low financial burden but a high human toll, especially in the most vulnerable places. For example, floods in South Sudan from July to November forced more than 850,000 people from their homes, many of whom were already displaced by conflict or other disasters.

REUTERS