No single continent on Earth was spared from crippling climate disasters during 2025, with at least one disaster in each of the six populated regions of the world making the report. Drought in Brazil, summer wildfires in Spain and Portugal, and February cyclones in Australia and the Réunion Island off the coast of Africa meant no corner of the world was spared, the report by global climate watch group noted.
By Salam Rajesh
At the close of the calendar year 2025, climate disasters cost the world a blistering 120 Billion US Dollars, impacting economies of several countries, much of which were severely devastated by extreme weather and climate events.
A new report of the global climate watch group Christian Aid – Counting the Cost 2025 – profiles ten of the most expensive and impactful climate disasters of year 2025, each causing over 1 billion USD in damage, and of which the Palisades and the Eaton wildfires in California alone cost a staggering 60 billion USD in loss and damage.
While underscoring heat waves, wildfires, droughts and storms costing the world approximately 120 billion USD in 2025, the report stressed on the escalating cost of climate change, with fossil fuel companies playing a central role in driving the crisis.
The cost of climate inaction is equally clear, as communities continue to bear the brunt of a crisis that could have been averted with urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Christian Aid report emphasized.
Most of the estimates are based only on insured losses, meaning that the true financial costs are likely to be even higher, while the human costs are often uncounted for.
The report also examined ten other significant extreme events that caused massive human lives lost and environmental damage, with the greatest toll felt in the world’s poorest countries.
The year saw devastating wildfires in the United Kingdom, caused by record-breaking heat waves in Scotland. Other major events include the extensive droughts in Canada, series of typhoons in the Philippines, and record-breaking fires in the Iberian Peninsula.
Emeritus Professor Joanna Haigh, at Imperial College London, says, “These disasters are not ‘natural’ – they are the predictable result of continued fossil fuel expansion and political delay”.
In terms of events which caused the biggest financial cost in 2025, the United States bore the brunt, with the wildfires in California topping the list as the single biggest one-off event at 60 billion USD in damage, and leading to the deaths of more than 400 people.
Second on the list is the cyclones and floods that struck Southeast Asia in November causing 25 billion USD in loss and damage, and killing more than 1750 people across Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and Malaysia.
Third on the list is the devastating floods in China which displaced thousands, causing 11.7 billion USD in damage, and which killed at least 30 people.
Christian Aid CEO Patrick Watt observed that the year 2025 had once again shown the stark reality of climate breakdown where violent storms, devastating floods and prolonged droughts are turning lives and livelihoods upside down. The poorest communities are the first and the worst affected.
No single continent on Earth was spared from crippling climate disasters during 2025, with at least one disaster in each of the six populated regions of the world making the report. Drought in Brazil, summer wildfires in Spain and Portugal, and February cyclones in Australia and the Réunion Island off the coast of Africa meant no corner of the world was spared, the report noted.
Asia accounted for four of the top six costliest disasters with flooding in India and Pakistan killing more than 1860 people, costing up to 6 billion USD in damage, and affecting more than 7 million people in Pakistan alone. More than 5 billion USD in damage was caused by typhoons in the Philippines, with around 1.4 million people displaced.
The report noted with disdain that some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2025 hit poorer nations, which have contributed little to causing the climate crisis and have the least resources to respond.
These included flooding in the Democratic Republic of Congo during April and in Nigeria during May, affecting thousands with potentially up to 700 deaths in Nigeria alone. The ongoing drought in Iran and West Asia threatened around 10 million people in Tehran with possible evacuation due to a water crisis.
The record breaking heat wave that led to wildfires in the highlands of Scotland, with 47,000 hectares burned, was noted as particularly unusual.
Japan faced an extreme year of heavy snowstorms and record breaking heat waves. Climate related extremes were also recorded in Antarctica, and the world’s oceans which recorded record-breaking sea temperatures and coral bleaching in West Australia posing major threats to ocean biodiversity.
Christian Aid CEO Patrick Watt observed that these climate disasters are a warning of what lies ahead if the world does not accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. They also underline the urgent need for adaptation, particularly in the Global South, where resources are stretched and people are especially vulnerable to climate shocks, Watt emphasized.
“The suffering caused by the climate crisis is a political choice. It is being driven by decisions to continue burning fossil fuels, to allow emissions to rise, and to break promises on climate finance. In 2026, world leaders must act – supporting communities already adapting at a local level, and providing the resources urgently needed to protect lives, land and livelihoods”, Watt said.
Emeritus Professor Joanna Haigh also agrees, saying that, “The world is paying an ever-higher price for a crisis we already know how to solve. These disasters are not ‘natural’ – they are the inevitable result of continued fossil fuel expansion and political delay. While the costs run into billions, the heaviest burden falls on communities with the least resources to recover. Unless governments act now to cut emissions and fund adaptation measures, this misery will only continue”.
Mohamed Adow, Director of Nairobi-based energy and climate think tank, Power Shift Africa, emphasized that the year 2025 has laid bare the brutal reality of climate change. While wealthy nations count the financial cost of disasters, millions of people across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean are counting lost lives, homes and futures, he stressed.
Davide Faranda, Research Director at the Institute Pierre Simon Laplace, France, opined that the events documented in the report are not isolated disasters or acts of nature. They are the predictable outcome of a warmer atmosphere and hotter oceans, driven by decades of fossil fuel emissions.
Climate change is now measurably amplifying extreme weather across the world, increasing both its intensity and its cost in terms of lives lost, livelihoods destroyed, and economies damaged. What we are seeing in 2025 is not a warning of the future, it is the present reality of climate breakdown, Faranda tells the world.
The recent climate conference at Abu Dhabi was at a crossroad with fossil fuel lobbyists and climate activists clashing on the crucial dialogue of fossil fuel reduction to meet climate deadlines.
(Salam Rajesh is an Imphal based media professional, and currently works as an independent researcher and writer on socio-environmental issues)