Hydrological extreme climate events, such as torrential rainfall and floods, generated a loss of R $ 45.9 billion to Brazil between 2020 and 2023, according to a survey by the Minas Gerais State Federation of Industries (FIEMG).
Of the total amount, R $ 41.2 billion are private sector losses and R $ 4.7 billion of the public.
Agriculture was the most affected economy segment, with an impact of R $ 24.4 billion during this period of three years. While industry and services had a loss of R $ 2.2 billion and R $ 19.3 billion, respectively.
In addition, “immediate impact on economic sectors can have systemic effects, impairing production and, consequently, affecting job generation, salary and tax collection,” said Fiemg’s survey.
The number of affected jobs can reach 573,000, with a loss of salary range of up to R $ 14.2 billion.
Thus, according to the study, these tragedies resulting from climate change can negatively impair Brazil’s GDP by 0.7%, leading to a reduction in exports and loss of tax collection.
“The biggest impact is the social, of families who lose everything and are disrupted. For the economy as an everything, the government will have to spend to replace the infrastructure and there is an increase in costs in the affected areas, ”said Flavio Roscoe, president of the Minas Gerais State Federation of Industries (Fiemg), in an interview with CNN Money .
Between 2020 and 2023 were 32 million people affected, not only in their health and physical integrity, but also in material losses. During this period, 564,000 houses were affected and 174,000 destroyed.
The study indicates that the estimated property loss is R $ 17.9 billion.
Roscoe also points out that another impact of hydrological climate events occurs in inflation, due to agricultural products affected by floods, which tend to rise in price.
This was the case of Rio Grande do Sul. The extreme rains in the region affected thousands of people and.
At the closing of the year, the broad consumer price index (IPCA), the country’s official inflation indicator, closed at 4.83% and burst the goal ceiling.
This price variation was pulled by the food and beverage group, according to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
