The multi-billion dollar cost of climate change damages to Germany

Over two decades, the cost of floods, droughts and other climate change catastrophes to the EU nation topped €145bn

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock tells delegates to the13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue how climate change affects everyone. Reuters

Extreme weather brought on by climate change have cost Germany about €6.8 billion ($6.8bn) a year, according to a new study.

The report, released at the two-day Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin which began on Monday, said that in the past 20 years, the cost of floods, droughts and other climate change catastrophes to Europe’s largest economy was at least €136bn.

Steffi Lemke, German Minister of Environment, told senior officials from more than 40 countries that the “horrifying scientific data” illustrated the enormous damage and cost of the climate crisis.

“The numbers sound the alarm for more prevention when it comes to the climate,” Ms Lemke said.

The 13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, under the chairmanship of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El Sisi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, set the stage for preliminary discussions on the big issues before the UN Climate Change Conference, Cop 27, in November in the Egyptian Red Sea coastal city of Sharm El Sheikh.

People basking in the sun on a crowded Brighton beach. The temperature in Britain smashed through the 40ºC barrier for the first time in recorded history. PA

A man dives into the Serpentine Lake to cool off in Hyde Park, west London. AFP

Firefighters rest as they attend a gorse bush fire, near Zennor, Cornwall. Reuters

A tourist wears a hat to shield herself from the sun on Westminster Bridge in central London. AP

A man cools off at Trafalgar Square, central London. Reuters

Firefighters respond to a large wildfire in woodland at Lickey Hills Country Park on the edge of Birmingham. PA

A railway worker hands out bottles of water to passengers at London's King's Cross, where there are train cancellations due to the heat. AP

Firefighters control a grass fire in Ravenswood, Suffolk. PA

Train tracks are painted white to help with the heat at Alexandra Palace train station in London. PA

Deer rest in the shade at London's Richmond Park. Reuters

An empty freezer section at Sainsbury's Nine Elms in London. PA

Chippy the chimpanzee enjoys an ice treat at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park, near Stirling. AP

A student dips her head into the fountain at Trafalgar Square, London. Getty Images

People turn out to watch the sunrise on Tuesday morning at Cullercoats Bay, North Tyneside. PA

A digital thermometer displaying a temperature of 39°C on a London Underground train. PA

A fan finds a way to keep cool while watching the Women's Euro 2022 football match between Italy and Belgium at Manchester City Academy Stadium. AP

An aerial view shows swimmers at Hathersage Swimming Pool, west of Sheffield in northern England. AFP

Traffic crosses a bridge at Woodhead Resevoir in West Yorkshire as water levels dip dangerously low. AP

A man leaps from the top of a tree into the River Cam, in Cambridge. Getty Images

A packed Gyllyngvase beach in Falmouth. Getty Images

A police officer gives water to a sentry in heavy ceremonial uniform, outside Buckingham Palace in central London. AP

A man cools off in a fountain in London. Reuters

A man sunbathes at the harbour in Mousehole, Cornwall. AP

People swim in the River Wye. Reuters

Passengers feel the heat on the London Underground. The operator advised its customers not to use the metro during the worst of the heatwave. AP

Palm House supervisor Will Spolestra waters the plants at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, west London, where temperatures inside the greenhouses are cooler than outside during the heatwave. PA

Dry grass at Greenwich Park, south-east London. AP

A swimmer takes an early morning dip in the cool water of Jesus Green Lido in Cambridge, eastern England. Getty Images

Assistant horticulturalist Katie Martyr checks the temperature at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Forecasts are for record temperatures exceeding 40°C. Getty Images

Bathers keep cool in a tidal pool at Perranporth Beach in Cornwall, south-west England. Reuters

Message boards at London's Victoria Station warn passengers of potential disruption to train services due to the extreme heat. AFP

Zorro the police horse drinks water from a bucket to cool down during hot weather, on Whitehall in London. Reuters

People use a map to shelter from the sun outside Buckingham Palace in London. Reuters

A cyclist rides through Richmond Park in south-west London at sunrise on Monday. Reuters

The reduced water level at Weir Wood reservoir, near Crawley, south-east England. The UK's Met Office has issued its first 'red warning' for exceptional heat. AFP

A crowded beach at Joss Bay in Broadstairs, south-east England. Reuters

Swimmers take the plunge to escape the heat in east London. Reuters

Sunbathers on the parched grass in Greenwich Park, south-east London. AP

A sign advises people not to travel on the London Underground during the heatwave. EPA

The study by economic research company Prognos comes as several countries in Europe struggle with huge wildfires that have scorched thousands of acres of land.

The early arrival of an intense heatwave has been blamed for hundreds of deaths. Scientists said such disastrous consequences are consistent with climate change.

According to the study of Germany, floods in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in 2021 cost more than €40bn in damages. The hot summers of 2018 and 2019 cost Europe's biggest economy another €40bn.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described climate change as the world's “biggest security problem”.

“We are all in the same boat, which means that we can only turn the tide together,” she said.

With much of Europe in the grips of a debilitating heatwave, the economic cost of climate change is an increasing concern among all countries, rich and poor.

Damage to homes and business as well as crop production are some of the factors used to calculate economic impact of climate change. Other effects, such as loss of human lives, biodiversity and culture, are difficult to value in monetary terms.

A study released in May by the London School of Economics found that under current policies, the total cost of climate change damages to the UK is projected to increase from 1.1 per cent of gross domestic product at present to 3.3 per cent by 2050 and 7.4 per cent by 2100.

A report in February from the European Environment Agency found that extreme weather events such as heatwaves and floods have cost Europe almost €510bn and about 142,000 lives in the past 40 years.

Last year, a report from global insurance provider Swiss Re expected the effects of climate change to cut between 11 per cent and 14 per cent — as much $23 trillion — off global economic output by 2050 compared with growth levels without climate change.

The subject of climate adaptation and finance for developing countries opened the talks in Berlin and campaigners hoped the issue of loss and damage will be put on the November summit’s agenda.

A target of $100bn in climate financing from developed countries to non-developed countries by 2020 has been missed.

While a new target of 2023 was set, Ms Baerbock stressed the need for developed countries “to live up to our responsibilities and promises”.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged rich nations to “stop paying lip service” to the pledge and to keep the promises they have made with regard to supplying funds to tackle the situation.