Spain on par with Nigeria and Chad: this is the ranking of countries most affected by the climate crisis

BarcelonaThe climate crisis is causing economic and human losses worldwide, and behind it lie slow, invisible, and often difficult-to-quantify changes. With the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of the consequences of the climate emergency and highlighting the importance of adaptation and mitigation policies, the Climate Risk Index, published annually by the independent organization Germanwatch, reports the economic losses caused by extreme weather events in the twenty countries most affected by this problem. To coincide with COP30 in Belém, the creators of this index have released their assessment of the damage documented in 2024, and it includes a new finding that directly affects us: Spain has entered the ranking of the twenty countries most affected by the climate crisis in the world for the first time. In fact, it is the only European country represented on this list, sharing positions with countries such as the island nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean nation of Grenada, Chad, Papua New Guinea, and Nigeria. The list also includes Nepal, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Bangladesh, and Chile. The statistics implemented by Germanwatch analyze the consequences of five specific extreme events: droughts, floods, heat waves, storms, and fires. It also includes a sixth indicator representing other impacts such as cold waves, melting ice, and landslides. According to the calculation, all these events have caused a loss of €192.352 billion this year in the twenty countries most affected by the climate crisis.

By far, the greatest economic losses are caused by storms, with a cost of €148.338 billion, representing 77% of the total losses due to the climate crisis. Floods rank second with €28.160 billion (15% of total annual losses), and drought third with €11.460 billion (6%). To compile this ranking, academics considered the number of lives lost, the economic costs, and the population affected by extreme weather events.

The devastation caused by the DANA storm in the Valencian Community accounts for a considerable portion of the economic losses from floods worldwide. In fact, the Germanwatch report itself states that it has been "the worst natural disaster in the country's recent history." Specifically, the economic cost of the floods is €9.45 billion, equivalent to 2.24% of Spain's GDP. Extreme weather events of this magnitude are relatively new in Spain, but they reflect a global trend. Cold fronts are 12% more intense and occur twice as often compared to a world without an ecological crisis.

Conservative forecasts

However, these indicators are conservative forecasts, based on international EM-DAT disaster data, World Bank figures, and socioeconomic analyses from the International Monetary Fund. Furthermore, they only quantify the direct damage of these phenomena without considering externalities, and do not represent the total losses generated by the ecological crisis. Losses due to declining agricultural productivity caused by temperature increases or the public health costs resulting from the deterioration of population health due to greenhouse gas emissions are not quantified because they are not caused by extreme natural phenomena. In contrast, studies like this one serve to underscore the need to increase investment in adaptation, mitigation, and financing measures in those territories that are most affected by this emergency and have contributed the least to it. In fact, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Simon Stiell, has been adamant in pointing out the direct link between inaction on the ecological crisis and increased losses, stagnation, and inflation in their economies. "No nation can afford to remain inactive, as climate disasters reduce GDP by double digits," Stiell asserted from Belém.

This same dynamic can be seen in the top two countries in the Germanwatch ranking: the economic impact of extreme weather events affects 20% of GDP in the case of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 16.95% of GDP in the case of Grenada. Despite the current situation and future outlook, the knowledge and economic capacity exist to address these effects of the ecological crisis. This year's Gates Cambridge report indicates that investment in mitigation is the most cost-effective. It would not only reduce environmental impacts but also minimize economic damage, yielding a return of five to fourteen times the amount invested. However, the key is to act within the next twenty years, since inaction in the following decades could lead to irreversible consequences.