Report/new indicator published by the European Environment Agency (EEA), October.
The economic losses from weather- and climate-related extremes in Europe have grown dramatically over recent decades, presenting urgent challenges that must be addressed with strategic policy and adaptive action. From 1980 to 2024, the European Union and its member states experienced a cumulative loss of approximately EUR 822 billion due to a variety of climate hazards such as floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires. These extreme weather events have caused not just financial damage but also widespread societal stress and risks to human health and ecosystems.
Most common causes of economic loss
The EEA's data reveals that these losses are not evenly distributed. Nearly half of the total economic damage around 47% has resulted from hydrological hazards like flooding, while storms and other meteorological hazards contributed about 27%. Climatological hazards, including heatwaves and droughts, account for the remainder. Remarkably, a small fraction of the most extreme events only about 5% were responsible for nearly 60% of the losses, illustrating the heavy impact of clustered catastrophic incidents on European economies.
Over time, the annual average losses have increased steeply:
From about EUR 8.6 billion in the 1980s to nearly EUR 45 billion in the most recent years. This trend reflects not only growing exposure due to increased development and wealth but also the intensifying nature of climate hazards, which are occurring more frequently and with greater severity.
Although various European countries have implemented national adaptation strategies aiming to enhance resilience and reduce these impacts, current efforts are not keeping pace with the accelerating risks.
Challenges for coordinated damage monitoring within the EU
Monitoring and managing such losses is complicated by disparities in data reporting and the uneven implementation of adaptation policies across the EU, which poses challenges for coordinated governance. Moreover, only a minor proportion of these losses less than 20% is covered by insurance, leaving many economic assets vulnerable to climate shocks.
To tackle these intertwined issues, the report underscores the critical need for improved data collection and sharing across countries, enhanced climate risk assessment mechanisms, and more integrated, comprehensive approaches to adaptation that include nature-based solutions.
Strengthened policy frameworks at national and EU levels should prioritize these actions to build greater resilience, reduce future damages, and safeguard both natural and human systems.
This summary derives from extracts of the online report on the new indicator published by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The full report can be found here.
Photo credit Juan Manuel Sanchez on Unsplash.
For more coverage on similar topics below: