Climate risk: India 7th worst-hit

NEW DELHI: India was the seventh worst-hit country due to extreme weather events in 2019, shows a global Climate Risk Index, released on Monday, ranking countries according to their vulnerability both in terms of fatalities and economic losses.
The top six most vulnerable countries in the Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2021 ranking are Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Bahamas, Japan, Malawi and Afghanistan.India, however, improved its ranking from fifth in CRI 2020 to seventh in CRI 2021.

Though India topped the dubious list in terms of having highest number of fatalities (2,267) and the biggest economic loss (68,812 million USD) in 2019, its overall CRI ranking figured at number seven due to low fatalities per one lakh of inhabitants and losses per unit of GDP due to climate change-induced extreme weather events such as storms, floods, heat waves and cyclones.
The report, released by Germany-based think tank Germanwatch, shows that over 4,75,000 people had lost their lives as a direct result of more than 11,000 extreme weather events globally and lost around 2.56 trillion USD (in purchasing power parities) in the past 20 years between 2000 and 2019.
Puerto Rico, Myanmar and Haiti were the top three most affected countries during the 20-year period with India figuring at number 20 in the long-term CRI. Eight of the ten countries most affected between 2000 and 2019 are developing countries with low or lower middle income per capita.

The global CRI, developed by Germanwatch, analyses quantified impacts of extreme weather events – both in terms of the fatalities as well as the economic losses that occurred. The index is based on data from the Munich Re NatCatSERVICE11, which is considered worldwide as one of the most reliable and complete databases on this matter. Besides, it uses the socio-economic data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Poorer countries are hit hardest because they are more vulnerable to the damaging effects of a hazard and have lower coping capacity,” said Vera Kuenzel of Germanwatch while underlining the need to strengthen their resilience through adaptation measures by providing “necessary support for dealing with losses and damages”.
The experts also expressed the needs to discuss how to enhance support for vulnerable countries to deal with increasing climate impacts at the online Climate Adaptation Summit, beginning Monday. The countries will during the Summit discuss how the 100 billion US dollars per year, pledged by the rich countries to assist the poor and developing countries, would not be enough to save them from disasters.
Noting that six of the ten most affected countries in 2019 were hit by tropical cyclones, the report while referring to recent scientific findings said not only the severity but also the number of 'severe' tropical cyclones will increase with every tenth of a degree in global average temperature rise.
On India, the report said that the monsoon condition in the country in 2019 continued for a month longer than usual, with the surplus of rain causing major hardship. The floods caused by the heavy rains were responsible for 1, 800 deaths across 14 states and led to the displacement of 1.8 million people. Overall, 11.8 million people were affected by the intense monsoon season with the economic damage estimated to be US$ 10 billion.
“Furthermore, with a total of eight tropical cyclones, the year 2019 was one of the most active Northern Indian Ocean cyclone seasons on record. Six of the eight cyclones intensified to become 'very severe',” it said, noting that the cyclone Fani in May 2019 was the worst which affected a total of 28 million people, killing nearly 90 people in India and Bangladesh and causing economic losses of US$ 8.1 billion.
“It is not surprising to know that India appears to be in the top 10 most affected countries in the global climate risk index of 2021. As an IPCC scientist, we have been pointing towards extreme risk an emerging market such as India is going to face due to very rapidly changing climatic conditions,” said Anjal Prakash, research director and adjunct associate professor at Bharti Institute of Public Policy.
Noting the lack of response from the government to safeguard people against the impacts of climate change, Prakash, coordinating lead author of the IPCC’s special report on Oceans and Cryosphere, said, “A national adaptation plan was prepared way back in 2008 followed by state action plans. However, most of the plans lack resources so that they are integrated into the district development and disaster risk reduction plan. It is high time that the government commissions India’s state\ district specific climate-risk maps to further disaggregate this information to understand which areas need more attention than others.”
Underlining priorities to guarantee adaptation and resilience, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres at online Climate Adaptation Summit, hosted by the Netherlands, said the donor countries and multilateral, regional and national development banks needed to "significantly increase the volume and predictability of their finance for adaptation and resilience".
He said, "The recent United Nations Environment Programme Adaptation Gap Report calculates annual adaptation costs in developing countries alone to be in the range of $70 billion. These figures are likely to reach $140 billion or eventually up to $300 billion in 2030 and the range between $280 and $500 in 2050. But huge gaps remain on financing for adaptation in developing countries. That is why I have called for 50% of the total share of climate finance provided by all developed countries and multilateral development banks to be allocated to adaptation and resilience in developing countries. Adaptation cannot be the neglected half of the climate equation."
He also urged the rich nations to meet their Paris Agreement commitment. "Let us remember that developed countries must meet the commitments made in the Paris Agreement to mobilize $100 billion a year from private and public sources for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries."