Cyclones, floods and wildfires among 2025’s costliest climate-related disasters
Christian Aid annual report’s top 10 disasters amounted to more than $120bn in insured losses
Cyclones and floods in south-east Asia this autumn killed more than 1,750 people and caused more than $25bn (£19bn) in damage, while the death toll from California wildfires topped 400 people, with $60bn in damage, according to research on the costliest climate-related disasters of the year.
China’s devastating floods, in which thousands of people were displaced, were the third most expensive, causing about $12bn in damage, with at least 30 lives lost.
The 10 worst climate-related disasters of 2025 amounted to more than $120bn in insured losses, according to an annual report from the charity Christian Aid.
The true losses are likely to be much higher, as only the insurance costs could be reliably measured. The human costs, in lives, displacement and lost livelihoods, are uncounted.
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Joanna Haigh, emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said damaging events were increasing in frequency and intensity owing to the human-made climate crisis. “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,” she said.
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The bill for extreme weather damages will continue to rise until the world slashes greenhouse gas emissions and phases out fossil fuels, added Christian Aid’s chief executive, Patrick Watt.
“These climate disasters are a warning of what lies ahead if we do not accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels,” he said. “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.”
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