Germanwatch, an international environmental think tank, recently publicized the Global Climate Risk Index 2021. Marking its 16th edition, this annually released index originates from the Bonn and Berlin-based independent development and environmental organization. Established with the prime objective of advocating for sustainable global development, Germanwatch navigates the impacts of climate change with their robust indexes.
Key Elements and Findings of the Climate Risk Index
The intent behind the Index is to analyze how extensively countries and regions have been impacted by the outcomes of weather-related loss events such as storms, floods, and heat waves. It undertakes an impact assessment based on the number of fatalities and economic losses. The most recent data acquired for 2019 and the previous two decades played a crucial role in the analysis. However, the 2021 Index does not encapsulate data from the United States of America.
Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index signals that the escalating repercussions of climate change cannot be overlooked anywhere. The economically disadvantaged countries bear the brunt of extreme weather events due to their high vulnerability, low coping capacity, and elongated recovery and rebuilding periods. Interestingly, high-income countries are also experiencing severe impacts of climate change.
Insights from the Global Climate Risk Index 2021
According to the 2021 findings, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and the Bahamas topped the list of the most affected countries in 2019. Looking back at data from the year 2000 to 2019, Puerto Rico, Myanmar, and Haiti were recorded as the highest ranked. Major causes of losses and damages in 2019 were proven to be storms and their direct implications – precipitation, floods, and landslides. Furthermore, six out of the top ten most affected countries in 2019 were struck by tropical cyclones.
Research indicates that every tenth of a degree rise in global average temperature augments the number of severe tropical cyclones. Of the ten most drastically affected countries in 2019, eight belonged to the low-to-lower-middle income category. Half of them being Least Developed Countries.
India’s Performance in Global Climate Risk Index 2021
India has made substantial progress by improving its ranking from 5th in 2020 to 7th in the 2021 Index. The country suffered from an extended monsoon period in 2019, which lasted one month more than usual and caused significant hardship. Heavy rains resulted in floods that claimed 1800 lives and displaced 1.8 million people. In total, 11.8 million people were affected with an estimated economic damage of US$10 billion. India was hit by eight tropical cyclones, among which Cyclone Fani (May, 2019) caused the maximum damage. Global warming has severely affected the Himalayan glaciers, coastlines, and deserts in India, with the report highlighting the increased frequency and intensity of heatwaves and cyclones, along with an accelerated rate of glacier melting.
Implications and Recommendations
The unprecedented global Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the fact that risks and vulnerabilities are systemic and interconnected. It is thus, pertinent to enhance resilience against different types of climatic, geophysical, economic, or health-related risks. As the international climate policy process stalled in 2020 due to the pandemic, hopes for progress on the long-term finance goal and adequate support for adaptation are pinned on 2021 and 2022. There is an urgent need for robust decisions regarding support for vulnerable countries concerning future loss and damage. This calls for generating and allocating financial resources to meet these needs, strengthening the implementation of adaptation measures, and effective mitigation strategies for climate change.
