The climate crisis has caused a very long list of environmental, social and economic disasters in 2023. To have a rough idea of the damage caused by the processes associated with global warming, the international NGO based in the United Kingdom Christian Aid has prepared a list of the 20 most costly climate disasters of the year. In position number 9 on this world list is the drought that has affected and continues to affect Spain.
The data from the new report places the drought in Spain in April 2023, although in some communities, such as Catalonia, the lack of rainfall and its effects on agriculture, industry and supply remain in force. In other cases highlighted in the list of the 20 most costly disasters of the year, the situation was concentrated in 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 prepared by this international organization.
The report indicates 20 episodes related to the climate crisis evaluated as more destructive and of greater economic cost, among which forest fires, storms, floods and droughts stand out.
Christian Aid CEO Patrick Watt highlights that the 2023 analysis reveals that “when it comes to the climate crisis, there is a global postcode lottery that plays against the poor.”
The ranking of the 20 costliest climate disasters of 2023 includes episodes in 14 territories (Chile, China, Spain, Haiti, Italy, Libya, Malawi, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Peru, Vanuatu, the US archipelago of Hawaii and the island Guam), some of them - due to size, geography or other factors - more likely to experience natural disasters.
The drought that devastated 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) - occupies ninth place on the world list, with an impact economic quantified at around 2.4 billion dollars (2.18 billion euros), which represents an average of 50 dollars (45 euros) per person.
That estimate comes from the government support package provided in response to the drought, focused on providing new water supplies and support to farmers, according to information prepared by Servimedia.
Before much of Europe experienced extreme heat during the summer, some Spanish regions suffered a severe drought in April. Spain recorded the driest start to the year since 1961.
The ranking of the most costly climate disasters of the year is topped by the August wildfires in Hawaii, with an average of $4,161 per person.
Behind them stand recorded storms in Guam in May ($1,455 per capita), Vanuatu in March (947) and New Zealand in February (468), as well as floods in New Zealand in February (371), Italy in May ( 164), Libya in September (105) and Peru in April (66).
The average cost of the 20 worst climate disasters amounts to more than $400 per person.
“With 2023 being the hottest year on record, the effects of climate change are more obvious than ever,” according to Watt, who added: “The human cost of the climate crisis is increasingly seen in homes swept away and lives ended by floods and storms.” , and crops and livestock lost due to drought. This year was, once again, devastating if you live in a climate vulnerable country,” he added.
Watt urged governments to “take more action” to reduce planet-warming gas emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.
“No corner of the world was spared in 2023, with all six populated continents represented on the list. Even large countries with large populations make Christian Aid's list: the United States, China and Mexico have populations of more than 100 million, yet they experienced disasters that cost tens of dollars per capita, meaning billions of dollars. dollars at the national level,” stressed Nushrat Chowdhury, climate justice policy advisor at Christian Aid in Bangladesh.
Audrey Brouillet, researcher at the Development Research Institute (France), stressed that, “in many places in the world, climate change is making extreme weather events, such as floods or droughts, more frequent and intense.”
"In the future, we expect this intensification to worsen due to the continued burning of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. Above two degrees of warming (relative to pre-industrial levels), some regions such as North Africa could experience more intense droughts of up to more than 50% of known values, while other regions such as Central Africa will experience more intense rains, of up to 70%," added Audrey Brouillet.
