As climate-driven disasters intensify, affordable housing options are becoming increasingly unaffordable worldwide. A growing crisis is fueled by urbanization, investment companies, inflation, and rising construction costs.
Housing costs around the world are skYROCKETING, and climate change-driven disasters are making it worse. City planning and risk reduction can help mitigate this issue.
Climate change refers to the long-term warming of the planet due to human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.
Rising temperatures lead to melting glaciers, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events.
According to NASA, 2020 was the hottest year on record globally, with temperatures 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels.
The World Meteorological Organization reports that the past decade was the warmest on record, with 2016 being the warmest single year.
Climate change impacts ecosystems, human health, and economies worldwide.
Climate-Driven Disasters and Housing Costs
Recent devastating wildfires in Los Angeles wiped out 16,000 structures, many of which were homes, instantly impacting the city’s expensive housing market. This disaster has led to price gouging, with officials in California cracking down on landlords. However, this pattern is accentuating a global housing crisis.
The crisis is fueled by urbanization, investment companies snapping up real estate, inflation, and rising construction costs. As a result, affordable housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many around the world. Sara McTarnaghan, a researcher at the Urban Institute, notes that ‘there’s a kind of shared experience where home prices and rents have continued to rise much quicker than income.’
Global Scope of the Crisis
The issue is not limited to rural or urban areas; it’s a global problem. Half of the cities with the world’s fastest rising rents are in the Global South. Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires, are becoming more intense and frequent due to human activities.
Disasters and Neighborhoods
Extreme weather events are changing the appeal of neighborhoods in at-risk regions. In coastal cities like Miami, real estate speculators are shifting their gaze away from beachfront properties due to rising sea levels and flooding. This shift is displacing existing low-income residents, leading to ‘climate gentrification.’
Post-Disaster Housing Costs
When disasters strike, they can erode available housing stock and put short-term pressure on rental supply in entirely different cities. Los Angeles‘ deadly wildfires wiped out 16,000 structures, while Hurricane Katrina destroyed or damaged over 200,000 houses in New Orleans.
Insurance Costs and Climate Change
Insurance costs for the over 1.2 billion people around the world highly vulnerable to at least one critical climate hazard are also skyrocketing. In the US, annual average homeowners’ insurance premiums nearly tripled from $536 to $1,411 between 2001 and 2021 due to increased disaster risks.
Addressing the Crisis
To address this crisis, more housing is needed to accommodate surging demand post-disaster. Expanding the housing stock would provide more options for renters and homeowners, helping with the wider affordability crisis. However, climate change presents unique challenges that cannot be solved through abundant stock alone.
City Planning and Risk Reduction
Shifting housing density toward low-risk areas could help. Additionally, climate-forward retrofitting like fire-resistant roofing or sturdy sidings in hurricane and typhoon-prone regions can help to proof against disasters. Zac Taylor argues that risk reduction must be seen as part of a larger societal approach to housing affordability and engaging with climate change.
A Clearer Vision for Housing
We need a clearer vision of the society we want to live in, one that prioritizes safe and affordable housing. This requires redesigning our institutions to contend with these risks. By taking a proactive approach to addressing the impact of climate change on housing, we can create more resilient and sustainable communities for all.
