Context:
India has improved its Climate Risk Index (CRI) ranking significantly, moving from 7th worst affected in 2019 to 49th in 2022. However, in the long-term assessment (1993-2022), it remains 6th most affected globally.
Key Findings from CRI 2025 Report
- Published By
- the environmental think tank Germanwatch
- India’s Climate Impact
- 80,000 lives lost and $180 billion in economic damages from 400 extreme weather events between 1993-2022.
- Devastating floods (1993, 1998, 2013, 2019) and severe heat waves (2002, 2003, 2015) contributed to high fatalities.
- Major cyclones: 1998 Gujarat, 1999 Odisha, Hudhud (2014), Amphan (2020).
- Repeated heat waves with temperatures around 50°C caused significant casualties.
- Global Climate Risk Trends
- 7,65,000 deaths from 9,400 extreme weather events (1993-2022) worldwide.
- Economic damages: $4.2 trillion (inflation-adjusted).
- Top causes of fatalities:
- Storms – 35%
- Heat waves – 30%
- Floods – 27%
- Shifts in Global Vulnerability
- High-income countries were disproportionately affected in 2022, with 7 of the 10 most affected nations belonging to this group.
- Italy, Spain, and Greece among the worst-hit EU nations in the past three decades.
- Most affected countries (1993-2022):
- Dominica
- China
- Honduras
- Myanmar
- Italy