Households in the UK set to face £3,000 'hidden costs' this year due to 'climate breakdown' and 'extreme weather'

15 April 2025, 13:55

UK households are set to face an estimated £3,000 cost this year as a result of 'climate breakdown' and 'rising global temperatures' - new research reveals.

The impact of 'climate breakdown' caused by fossil fuel pollution is set to hit the UK economy with an estimated £1.1 trillion-worth of damage over the next decade.

The findings come from new research by Global Witness.

The cost per households is estimated at around £38,000 across this period.

This year, UK households are set to face costs of £3,000 - as a result of 'climate damage'.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, told Global Witness: "These figures highlight the hidden costs of fossil fuels, which are already being borne by UK households.

"It can’t be right that fossil fuel companies profit from polluting our planet whilst expecting working people to bear the huge costs of climate breakdown.”

Read more: UK businesses 'to slash hiring rates' amid fears for economy after Trump imposes tariffs

Read more: Britain needs to build more homes rather than focusing on vacant housing

The cost of damage from climate-related causes include crop losses, sea level rise, flooding, disruption to overseas trade, and harmful impacts on public health linked to 'global heating'.

UK households are expected to be further impacted by increased food prices since climate heating exacerbates extreme weather conditions, which impacts crop production and food costs.

According to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, 'extreme weather' added an average of £192 to each UK household's food bill.

Lincolnshire farmer Colin Chappell, a flooding victim and member of the Nature Friendly Farming Network said: “We all rely on farmers to put food on our table, but in the UK climate-change driven extreme weather is making our jobs significantly harder, and that affects everyone.

“Last year my farm – which produces enough milling wheat for 800,000 loaves - suffered the mother of all floods which meant I lost over half our entire wheat crop. I wasn’t alone – last year the UK experienced its worst wheat harvest in 40 years.

"These kind of climate-driven shocks are only getting more frequent, with knock-on effects for families up and down the UK - when harvests are down, we’re forced to rely on more expensive food imports.

“Farmers and households shouldn’t have to suffer these increasingly unbearable price shocks alone”.

According to Rystad Energy, oil firms including Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, Exxon and Chevron are set to make more than £56 billion in pre-tax profits from oil extraction in the North Sea over the next decade.

In US states including California, New York, and Vermont, legislators have recommended or adopted laws that mandate fossil fuel firms to invest in climate projects in those states - including compensation for communities impacted by climate damage.

However, fossil fuel lobbyists are pushing back against these measures.

According to analysis from the Climate Change Committee, reducing emissions in the UK by 87% by 2040 would help cut household costs by £1,400 annually by 2040.

Dominic Eagleton, senior campaigner with Global Witness said: “UK households are already paying the price of climate breakdown, with the effects of fossil fuel pollution driving more intense storms, flooding and heatwaves at home and abroad.

"The fossil fuel companies most responsible are not only raking in billions in profit but also face no obligation to pay for the climate damage their businesses cause.

"The UK government needs to shift this burden from people onto big polluters. And climate damage costs would be much lower if governments took stronger action to tackle global heating, including a fair and fast shift from fossil fuels to green energy.”