Brussels/ Abu Dbhabi: The 30-year moving average of climate-related economic losses showed a clear trend, increasing nearly 2 per cent annually over the last decade, according to estimates by the European Environmental Agency (EEA), republished by Eurostat.
Climate change drives extreme weather and climate-related events, which in turn lead to economic losses. Such events — including heat waves, floods and storms — have caused over €145 billion (about $143 billion) in economic losses in the EU over the past decade.
In 2020, the total climate-related economic losses were €12 billion. The highest total loss was recorded in 2017 (€27.9 billion) — more than double that in 2020, as a result of the heatwaves registered in Europe that dried the land and caused wildfire conditions.
The lowest total loss was observed in 2012 (€3.7 billion).
In 2020, climate-related economic losses stood at €27 per EU inhabitant. The Member State with the highest loss per inhabitant (almost three times higher than the EU average) was Greece (€91 per inhabitant), followed by France (€62) and Ireland (€42). The lowest losses per inhabitant were registered in Bulgaria (€0.7 per inhabitant), Slovenia and Slovakia (both €4).
