Damage to infrastructure and agriculture, disruptions to transport and services, and the costs of emergency response ripple across the economy. When such shocks recur year after year, recovery becomes partial and fragile. Each rebuilding effort begins before the last has fully ended.

From the outside, climate impacts are often described as temporary setbacks. On the ground, they feel structural. Resources that could support education, healthcare, industrial development, or job creation are repeatedly redirected toward response and repair. Public debt grows not through poor decisions, but because climate shocks leave governments with few alternatives.