UK heatwaves this summer are likely to have cost the economy more than £4bn in lost output by the end of July, according to new analysis. The green thinktank Verdant said repeated bouts of debilitating heat had taken a heavy toll on productivity.
Verdant had earlier estimated that June’s unseasonably hot weather carried an economic cost of £2.36bn. Updating that assessment to include last month’s high temperatures, it now puts the hit to output at £4.4bn.
With temperatures climbing again this week, Verdant’s director, James Meadway, said: “The economic costs of climate change are already with us, and set to worsen in future years. Action by the government to protect workers and businesses from the severe effects of extreme heat is well overdue.”
The direct costs arise because workers across many industries become less productive during heatwaves, while infrastructure and equipment overheat and have to be shut down. This week’s amber weather warning for extreme heat in England from the Met Office follows three earlier heatwaves in May, June and July. The forecaster has said the UK is on course to record its hottest summer ever.
Verdant is calling on the government to introduce a maximum working temperature and to be ready to compensate workers when they are forced to cut their hours because of extreme heat. The report also highlights the need for investment in urban redesign to create more green spaces in the UK’s towns and cities to help cool them down.
The estimates exclude indirect losses such as the cost of fighting wildfires and extra electricity consumption from running fans and air conditioning. The thinktank argues the largest effect was likely felt in London and the south-east, where temperatures have been highest. If heatwaves continue to intensify at the same rate as in the last decade, it suggests the annual economic cost could rise to more than £25bn by 2030.
Verdant relies on cross-European estimates by the insurer Allianz, which suggest that for every degree above 30C that temperatures rise, workers’ output per hour declines by 3%. Those figures line up with work by the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, which suggested a loss of more than £1bn during June’s heatwave alone, from workers cutting back hours or being less productive due to high temperatures.
In a survey of 2,000 people, the institute’s researchers found that 3.6% of respondents did not work at all during the week of 22 June because of searing temperatures, while 87% reported at least one health-related impact, from disrupted sleep to dizziness.
Economists have increasingly warned about the mounting economic costs of extreme weather events, including the risk of higher inflation from rising food prices as production is hit by droughts, floods and wildfires. Almost three-quarters of England has been declared officially in drought after the repeated heatwaves, which have also affected much of Europe this summer.
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, recently pointed to the impact of this year’s extreme temperatures as evidence that Labour should take on net zero sceptics and stick to its climate targets. “The climate emergency is here – and no one can say they didn’t see it coming,” he wrote.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said: “As climate change causes more heatwaves, workers are suffering – and productivity is taking a hit too. Many of us have experienced this directly as we’ve struggled to keep working through the heat.
“Unions are calling for rules that require employers to take action to reduce temperatures when they exceed 24C, and for work to stop when temperatures reach 30C, or 27C for strenuous jobs.”
Source: www.theguardian.com — Read the original article
