DAccording to a study, climate change has caused damage averaging 6.6 billion euros in Germany every year since 2000. This corresponds to almost 0.2 percent of annual economic output. The heat, drought and floods caused by climate change would have cost around 145 billion euros by 2021, according to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, referring to a Prognos study published on Monday.
Relevant climate damage has therefore occurred primarily in the recent past. The two hot summers of 2018 and 2019 alone and the flood in the Ahr Valley in 2021 would have cost more than 80 billion euros. The authors of the study estimated more than 40 billion euros for the flood in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. However, they pointed out that it is not easy to differentiate between the usual extreme weather damage and damage caused by climate change. The climate damage may also be greater.
Forestry and agriculture in large parts of Germany suffered from the heat and drought. For the two extreme years of 2018 and 2019 alone, these sectors of the economy had to post damage costs of around 25.6 billion euros. Another €9 billion occurred in industry and commerce as productivity among working people fell due to the heat.
Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said: “We will and must step up our efforts for comprehensive climate protection in all sectors.” But this is only part of the task: “Secondly, we need a reliable climate adaptation strategy that protects our population, our infrastructure and our protects the economy from heat, flooding and strong weather fluctuations.” Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) also announced a national water strategy for this purpose.
