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Droughts, floods, storms and hurricanes were among the most costly climate change-related disasters during 2022, according to a new report.

The report by Christian Aid found that the 10 most expensive events in terms of insured losses ranged in cost from $3bn to $100bn, although the figures are only estimates, so the true expense could be much higher.

Here are the 10 most costly disasters of the year:

Debris hang on the street in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian's passage through Pinar del Rio, Cuba, September 27, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
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Hurricane Ian in Cuba

Hurricane Ian – $100bn

Ian was a Category 4 hurricane that caused widespread damage across western Cuba and the southeast of the US. Over seven days in late September, it killed at least 150 people and made 40,000 homeless.

An aerial view shows a branch of the Loire River as historical drought hits France, in Loireauxence, France, August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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A dried up branch of the Loire River in France

European drought – $20bn

The drought in the summer of 2022 was widely acknowledged to be the continent’s worst in 500 years, affecting food and energy production, water availability and wildlife. It also fuelled wildfires, crop losses and caused more than 20,000 excess deaths.

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Flood waters sweep through the ancient town of Feng Huang in central China's Hunan province, Saturday, June 4, 2022. State media reported some deaths and missing in flooding in the province. (AP Photo)
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Flooding in Hunan province, China

Flooding in China – $12.3bn

In June, southern China saw its heaviest rainfall since 1961, bringing floods and landslides and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.

Cracks run through the partially dried-up river bed of the Gan River, a tributary to Poyang Lake during a regional drought in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, August 28, 2022
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The Gan River in China

Drought in China – $8.4bn

Late in August, China experienced its hottest and driest summer since records began in 1961, with more than 70 days of extreme temperatures and low rainfall badly affecting the basin of the Yangtze river, which supports more than 450 million people and a third of the country’s crops.

New South Wales still facing flooding after two weeks
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Flooding in New South Wales in Australia

Flooding in eastern Australia – $7.5bn

From late February through March, eastern Australian states experienced flooding that killed 27 people and displaced 60,000. Several towns in northern New South Wales, for example, had a month’s worth of rain in just six hours – and this happened while they were still struggling to recover from record flooding the month before.

A man wading through floodwater in Sindh province, Pakistan. Pic: AP
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Sindh province, Pakistan. Pic: AP

Pakistan floods – $5.6bn

From mid-June into September, flooding killed more than 1,700 people and displaced seven million in Pakistan. The flooding was worse because it came after a summer of record-breaking heat – meaning the ground was to dry to absorb the water.

People work to clear up damage after a tree fell on cars in Godalming, Surrey. Pic: AP
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Storm Eunice in Godalming, England. Pic: AP

Storm Eunice – $4.3bn

Over five days in February, Storm Eunice caused devastation across Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and the UK. Seven people were killed.

In the UK gusts of 122mph were recorded – the strongest winds in more than 30 years.

A boat is stranded by drought in Lagoa da Francesa, near the Amazonas River in Parintins, Brazil October 21, 2022
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Lagoa da Francesa in Brazil

Drought in Brazil – $4bn

Brazil has been in drought for most of the year – a drought that is thought to be the worst in decades. The low level of the Amazon River is a particular concern.

A person carrying a teddy bear walks along the shore line in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland, Canada September 26, 2022. REUTERS/John Morris
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Hurricane Fiona in Newfoundland, Canada

Hurricane Fiona – $3bn

Hurricane Fiona hit the Caribbean and Canada in the later part of September, killing more than 25 people and making 13,000 homeless.

At least four international airports were shut down, roads were closed and a number of communities were cut off.

A man walks around a damaged bridge caused by flooding in Umlazi near Durban, South Africa, April 16, 2022. REUTERS/Rogan Ward
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Flooding in Umlazi near Durban, South Africa

KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape floods, South Africa – $3.0bn

Over a week in April, 459 people were killed and more than 40,000 had to leave their homes. Water services were shut down and Durban, one of South Africa’s busiest ports, was disrupted.

The report will reignite the debate about who should pay for a ‘climate catastrophe’, with many of the disasters happening in parts of the world that are the least to blame for climate change.

There was some progress on this issue at global climate negotiations at COP27 in Egypt in November, where countries landed a historic pact to set up a fund for climate damages.

But the details of where the money comes from and who gets it are still to be agreed.

Christian Aid’s chief executive Patrick Watt said the figures in the report point to “the financial cost of inaction on the climate crisis”.

The human cost of the spiralling crisis “is seen in the homes washed away by floods, loved ones killed by storms and livelihoods destroyed by drought”, he added.

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COP29 strikes last ditch deal on funding for climate measures in vulnerable countries

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COP29 strikes last ditch deal on funding for climate measures in vulnerable countries

The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.

The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.

Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.

It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.

But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.

Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.

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“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”

The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.

The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.

A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.

They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.

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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks

The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.

A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.

A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.

Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.

Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.

‘Not everything we wanted’

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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.

“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.

“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.

“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”

Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
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Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP

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Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’

The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.

“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”

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At least 20 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

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At least 20 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.

Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.

The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.

The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike
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The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut

Map of Lebanon and Israel

The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.

At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.

A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.

The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.

Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.

The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.

Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.

It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.

Read more:
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested
‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike

Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.

Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.

US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.

Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.

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Mossad investigating disappearance of rabbi in Abu Dhabi in potential terror incident, Israeli PM’s office says

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Mossad investigating disappearance of rabbi in Abu Dhabi in potential terror incident, Israeli PM's office says

Israeli intelligence agency Mossad is investigating the disappearance of a rabbi in Abu Dhabi after receiving information indicating a “terrorist incident”, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said.

Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan citizen, has been missing since Thursday.

Mr Kogan is the Chabad representative in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Israeli prime minister’s office said the country’s security and intelligence services have been investigating in Abu Dhabi.

It said: “Mossad has updated that since his disappearance, and given information indicating that this is a terrorist incident, an active investigation has been going on in the country.

“Israeli security and intelligence organisations, concerned for Kogan’s safety and wellbeing, have been working tirelessly on this case.”

In a travel advisory, it warned Israelis: “In major cities, or locations where demonstrations or protests are taking place, conceal anything that could identify you as Israeli or Jewish.”

Read more:
Hamas claims Israeli hostage killed in IDF attack on Gaza
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested

The Israeli government’s travel advisory service warns its citizens to “avoid unnecessary travel” to the UAE as “there is terrorist activity in the UAE, which constitutes a real risk to Israelis who are staying/visiting in the country”.

The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020, a deal it has honoured throughout the Israel-Hamas war and Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon.

The Chabad movement is a Hasidic branch of Judaism, according to Chabad Lubavitch UK.

The organisation describes the work of emissaries like Zvi Kogan as “explaining, shedding light, dispelling myths, countering stereotypes” about Judaism.

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