Californian wildfires was the most expensive climate catastrophe this year, as disasters brought on by global heating worsened drastically in 2025.
The full cost of the deepening climate crisis has been revealed.
Droughts, wildfires, heatwaves and storms cost the world more than $120 billion dollars this year, analysis by charity Christian Aid has found.
The annual assessment found outlines the economic case for urgently tackling the climate crisis.
This year, each of the ten most expensive disasters cost more than $1 billion dollars in insured losses.
Christian Aid chief executive Patrick Watt said: ‘These climate disasters are a warning of what lies ahead if we do not accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.’
Wildfires that ripped through homes and businesses in Palisades and Eaton, California, in January cost $60 billion and more than 400 died indirectly.
It was the most expensive climate crisis event this year and tore through huge houses owned by celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Schitt’s Creek actor Eugene Levy.
California’s governor said the state no longer just has a fire ‘season’, as the threat from wildfires is now ‘year round’.
Nine of the state’s 10 largest wildfires on record have been in the past decade.
Joanna Haigh, emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said: ‘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.
‘While the costs run into the billions, the heaviest burden falls on communities with the least resources to recover.
‘Unless governments act now to cut emissions and fund adaptation measures, this misery will only continue.’
The second most expensive climate disaster was a cluster of cyclones, extreme monsoon rainfall and flooding in Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Malaysia in November.
Insured losses came to $25 billion and killed more than 1,750 people.
Christian Aid’s report also identified new, worrying climate crisis events that were less expensive but still concerning, such as the wildfires in the UK and drought in Canada.
Over summer, wildfires spread through moor and grassland in east London. Dozens of people were evacuated.
The 10 costliest climate extreme events in 2025
- Palisades and Eaton fires – United States – January – more than 60 billion US dollars
- South and Southeast Asia cyclones – Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Malaysia – November – around $25 billion
- Extreme rainfall and flooding – China – June to August – $11.7 billion
- Hurricane Melissa – Jamaica, Cuba and Bahamas – mid- to late-2025 – $8 billion
- Extreme monsoon rainfall, flooding and landslides – India and Pakistan – June to September – around $5.6 billion
- Typhoons and tropical storms – the Philippines – mid-year to November – more than $5 billion
- Drought – Brazil – January to June – $4.75 billion
- Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred – Australia – February – $1.2 billion
- Cyclone Garance – Réunion (East Africa) – February – $1.05 billion
- Extreme rainfall and flash flooding – Texas, United States – July – $1 billion
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