822 billion. That's the damage bill Europe has run up from floods, storms, droughts and heat since 1980 ' and a quarter of it, '208bn, landed in just the last four years. '180bn: the cumulative hit to the EU economy from this single summer's heat and fire, according to Triodos Bank ' nearly wiping out the bloc's entire 1.1% growth forecast for the year. '15.6bn-'19.1bn: this season's wildfire losses alone in Spain, France and Greece, on AccuWeather's full accounting. '36bn a year: what climate change could cost London alone by the 2050s. $100bn: global economic losses from natural catastrophes in the first half of 2026 by itself. And the trend line on all of it points one direction ' up, at a structural 5-7% a year, according to Swiss Re. Governments are covering almost none of it. Less than 20% of Europe's climate losses are privately insured, under 3% in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta and Romania. The other 80%-plus lands on the state by default. Meanwhile the EU is...
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