Issue Rising climate damage costs, subsidence and uninsurability

Summary

The report finds that the costs of damage and health risks caused by climate change keep rising. Heavy rainfall can damage roads, bridges, railways and underground networks, and as clay soils dry out and shrink, cracks form in roads and dykes more quickly, requiring more frequent maintenance. Flooding from rivers or the sea, or from very short and intense downpours, harms foundations, basements and household contents and pushes up repair and insurance costs. Prolonged drought lowers the groundwater table, causing peat areas to subside and wooden pile foundations to dry out and rot, which leads to severe and expensive damage to buildings. Where property becomes uninsurable or insurable only at very high prices, homes and business assets can lose value and mortgage lenders may pull back from some areas, which the report sees as putting the wider economic system under growing strain.