A new report by Christian Aid, Counting the cost 2022: a year of climate breakdown identifies 20 of the most destructive climate disasters of the year. The ten most financially costly events all had an impact of $3 billion or more. Most of these estimates are based only on insured losses, meaning the true financial costs are likely to be even higher, while the human costs are often uncounted.

Among them is Hurricane Ian which struck the US and Cuba in September costing $100 billion and displacing 40,000 people. The drought in Europe heatwave in Europe cost $20 billion while floods in Pakistan killed more than 1,700 people, displaced a further 7 million, and according to World Bank estimates caused $30 billion in economic damage. Due to the difficulty of obtaining insurance, only $5.6 billion of these losses were covered.

In the report a second list of 10 climate disasters highlights some of these other climate events of 2022 which don’t make the list of insured losses but were just as damaging to communities or posed worrying future threats such as the Arctic and Antarctic heatwaves.
Top 10 climate disasters cost the world billions in 2022

Study identifies the year's 10 costliest extreme events influenced by the climate crisis - each caused more than $3 billion in damage.
Report also examines 10 other extreme events that caused massive human and environmental damage, mostly in the poorest countries.
The floods that submerged parts of Pakistan in June displaced 7m people and caused more than $30 billion in estimated damages, with only $5.6 billion covered by insurance.
Hurricane Ian which struck the US and Cuba in September cost $100 billion
The summer heatwave and drought which ravaged the UK and Europe racked up $20 billion in losses.
Floods, cyclones and drought killed and displaced millions of people across the globe in places which have done little to cause the climate crisis.
Christian Aid calling on world leaders to decide how the loss and damage fund agreed at COP27 will be managed and get money flowing into it.
A new report by Christian Aid, Counting the cost 2022: a year of climate breakdown identifies 20 of the most destructive climate disasters of the year.

The ten most financially costly events all had an impact of $3 billion or more. Most of these estimates are based only on insured losses, meaning the true financial costs are likely to be even higher, while the human costs are often uncounted. Among them is Hurricane Ian which struck the US and Cuba in September costing $100 billion and displacing 40,000 people. The drought in Europe heatwave in Europe cost $20 billion while floods in Pakistan killed more than 1,700 people, displaced a further 7 million, and according to World Bank estimates caused $30 billion in economic damage. Due to the difficulty of obtaining insurance, only $5.6 billion of these losses were covered.