New Delhi: Between 1993 and 2022, India was among 10 most affected countries from climate related extreme weather events, the Climate Risk Index 2025 published by Germanwatch has said.
Dominica, China, and Honduras were the countries most affected by extreme weather events. But, Myanmar, Italy, and India were among the other highly impacted countries.
India, which ranks 6th among most affected countries, was affected by floods, heatwaves, and cyclones during the period. It experienced devastating floods in 1993, 1998, and 2013, along with severe heatwaves in 2002, 2003, and 2015. India faced more than 400 extreme events, causing USD 180 billion in losses, and at least 80,000 fatalities, the report has revealed.
India recorded high absolute fatalities and economic losses, as well as high absolute number of people affected. Notable extreme weather events in India include 1998 Gujarat cyclone and 1999 Odisha cyclone, cyclones Hudhud and Amphan in 2014 and 2020, Uttarakhand floods in 2013; recurring intense heat waves with nearly 50 degree C temperature recorded in 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2015 which claimed many lives.
China, India, Philippines and Pakistan are also among countries facing recurring or continuous threats from climate crisis-fueled extreme weather, the report has flagged.
Globally, extreme weather events caused almost 800,000 deaths and 4.2 trillion US dollars in damage caused in 30 years, the analysis said.
Countries of the Global South have been particularly affected by the impacts of extreme weather events. The backward-looking index analyses how climate-related extreme weather events affect countries and ranks countries according to economic and human effects on them (fatalities and affected, injured, and homeless people), with the most affected country ranked first.
The findings of the report are based on extreme weather event data from the International Disaster Database (Em-dat) and socio-economic data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The list of most affected countries also includes Italy and Spain among developed countries.
“The climate crisis is increasingly becoming a global security risk and must be addressed with bold multilateral actions. Leaders at the Munich Security Conference cannot discuss security challenges without addressing climate change. The past three decades show that countries in the Global South are particularly affected by extreme weather events. If the data from these countries were as comprehensive as those from many Global North countries, an even greater degree of economic and human effects might become visible. There are increasing signs that we are entering a critical and unpredictable phase of the climate crisis, which will further aggravate conflicts, destabilize societies and negatively affect human security worldwide,” said Laura Schaefer, Head of Division for International Climate Policy at Germanwatch in a statement.
The report also recognises that climate finance available to deal with such extreme events is inadequate. COP29 in Baku failed to deliver an ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance. “Considering the identified needs, and the great urgency of the climate challenges that developing countries face, the USD 300 billion annually by 2035 can only be seen as the bare minimum response to the escalating climate crisis. The NCQG also failed to include measures to address loss and damage. This gap must be filled as soon as possible. This situation is even more worrying given the extensive gaps in adaptation finance compared with the needs and commitments. Substantially increased support by high-emitting countries and other polluters is needed for the most vulnerable in addressing climate impacts, the report states.
“High-income and high-emission countries must recognize the urgency of accelerating mitigation efforts. Over the past 30 years, losses totaling 4.2 trillion Dollars are comparable to the entire GDP of Germany. The less we invest in mitigation and adaptation today, the more staggering the human and economic costs will be in the future,” said David Eckstein, Senior Advisor for Climate Finance and Investments at Germanwatch and co-author of the index.
