The cost of climate change on households and families in the EU

This study investigates the major climate-related risks for households in the EU by quantifying the relationship between a set of selected climate-hazards metrics, households’ income by source, and sector-specific expenditures, capturing both the climate induced cost of impacts and adaptation measures. The assessment of economic costs of climate change impacts and adaptation reveals a North-South gradient. Health, food, and electricity expenditure increase mostly in Southern EU and fall or remains constant in Northern (and Eastern) EU. The contraction in labour income prevails in the South of the EU and the negative impact on monetary income (labour income, asset/investment remuneration and social transfers) affects nearly all EU countries, with the exception of the Eastern regions.