Christian Aid, an international organization based in the United Kingdom, has compiled a list of the twenty most costly climate disasters of the year. In ninth position on this global list, there is the drought that has affected and continues to affect Spain.
The drought that hit Spain during April 2023 – the warmest and least rainy April since the national historical series began in 1961, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) – has had a quantified economic impact for Christian Aid in 2,180 million euros, which means an average of 45 euros per person.
The estimate comes from the government support package provided in response to the drought, focused on providing new water supplies and support to farmers.
Although the data in the report places the drought in Spain in April 2023, in some communities, such as Catalonia, the lack of precipitation and its effects on agriculture, industry and supply are still in effect .
The report points to nineteen more episodes related to the climate crisis assessed as more destructive and of greater economic cost, among which stand out forest fires, storms, floods and drought. In many of these climatic events, the situation was concentrated after days and weeks, but its economic consequences and loss of human life were of great proportions. This is the case of the fires in Hawaii (United States), which tops the list drawn up by the oenagé, with an average of 3,745 euros per person.
Behind are the storms recorded in Guam in May (1,310 euros per capita), Vanuatu in March (852 euros) and New Zealand in February (421 euros), as well as the floods in New Zealand in February (334 euros), Italy in May (148 euros), Libya in September (95 euros) and Peru in April (59). The average cost of the twenty worst climate disasters amounts to more than 360 euros per person.
According to Christian Aid chief executive Patrick Watt, the 2023 analysis reveals that “when it comes to the climate crisis, there is a global postcode lottery going against the poor”. For this reason, Watt urged governments “to take more measures” to reduce emissions of gases that warm the planet and to adapt to the effects of climate change.
“No corner of the world was spared in 2023. Even countries with large populations are on the list: the United States, China and Mexico experienced disasters that cost tens of euros, which means billions in the national level,” emphasized Nushrat Chowdhury, Christian Aid’s climate justice policy advisor in Bangladesh.
For her part, Audrey Brouillet, from the Development Research Institute (France), emphasized that “in many places in the world, climate change is making extreme phenomena more frequent and intense. In the future, we expect the intensification to worsen due to the continued burning of fossil fuels. Above two degrees of warming, in northern Africa they could experience more intense droughts of even more than 50%, while in central Africa they will experience 70% more intense rains”.