Costs of extreme weather in Europe: comment
Comment on analysis showing economic costs of extreme weather
By Gareth Redmond-King
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Commenting on analysis showing that the economic costs of heatwaves, droughts, and floods across the EU in summer 2025 reached €43 billion in and could climb to €126 billion by 2029 [1] Gareth Redmond-King, Head of International Programme at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:
"Staggering financial losses like this will only grow until we can stabilise the climate by reaching net zero emissions, with the UK facing similarly rising costs partly from the knock-on effects of those hitting our EU neighbours.
"Last year, the UK imported nearly 5 billion tonnes of food worth some £10 billion from the southern European and smaller economies cited in this assessment. This was around 15% of our overall food imports, and included a range of fresh fruit and veg. [2]
"The UK is on track for one of its worst harvests on record following the third worst last year, and half our food supply chains originate in areas of the world worst affected by climate change. Across 2022 and 2023 climate change amounted to an extra £360 on the average UK household food bill." [3]
Notes to editors:
1. The analysis by Dr. Sehrish Usman of the University of Mannheim and economists at the European Central Bank is published on Monday 15 September.
2. https://eciu.net/analysis/reports/2024/climate-and-food-home-and-away
3. https://eciu.net/analysis/reports/2023/climate-fossil-fuels-and-uk-food-prices-2023
For more information or for interview requests:
George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, Tel: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net