Table of Contents
Climate Vulnerability Index: Relevance
- GS 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation
Climate Vulnerability Index: Context
- Recently, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) has released a new report titled, ‘Mapping India’s Climate Vulnerability – A District-level Assessment’ where it has mapped various states and UTs on the basis of vulnerability to extreme climatic events.
Climate Vulnerability Index: Key points
- It is a first-of-its-kind Climate Vulnerability Index that assesses the district-wise vulnerability.
- It is supported by the India Climate Collaborative and Edelgive Foundation, and has analysed 640 districts of our country.
Climate Vulnerability Index: Key findings
- The report highlighted that 27 Indian states and Union territories are vulnerable to extreme climate events that often disrupt the local economy and displace weaker communities.
- The report found that out of 640 countries analysed, 463 are vulnerable to extreme floods, droughts and cyclones.
- India’s most climate vulnerable states: The states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar are the most vulnerable to extreme climate events such as floods, droughts and cyclones.
- India’s most climate vulnerable districts: Dhemaji and Nagaon in Assam, Khammam in Telangana, Gajapati in Odisha, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, Sangli in Maharashtra and Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
- States in India’s northeast are more vulnerable to floods, while the ones in the south and central are most vulnerable to extreme droughts.
- Along with Tripura, West Bengal is the third least vulnerable and Kerala the least vulnerable, despite being coastal states and prone to annual cyclones and flooding.
Climate Vulnerability Index: Major concerns
- More than 80 per cent of Indians live in districts vulnerable to climate risks.
- 17 of 20 people in the country are vulnerable to climate risks, out of which every five Indians live in areas that are extremely vulnerable.
- More than 45 per cent of these districts have undergone “unsustainable landscape and infrastructure changes”.
- 183 hotspot districts are highly vulnerable to more than one extreme climate event.
- More than 60 per cent of the districts have medium to low adaptive capacity in handling extreme weather events.
- Only 63 per cent of Indian districts have a District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP).
- DDMP need to be updated every year, however, only 32 per cent of them had updated plans until 2019.
Climate vulnerability reasons
- Most districts in India have been made particularly vulnerable due to “landscape disruptions” such as
- the disappearance of forest cover,
- over-construction, and
- degradation of wetlands and other natural ecosystems.
Climate Vulnerability Index: Suggestions
- At COP-26, developed countries must regain trust by delivering the USD 100 billion promised since 2009 and commit to stepping up climate finance over the coming decade.
- India must collaborate with other countries to create a Global Resilience Reserve Fund, which could act as insurance against climate shocks.
- Developing a Climate Risk Atlas for India would help policymakers to better identify and assess risks arising from extreme climate events.
- Our policymakers, industry leaders and citizens must use the district-level analysis to make effective risk-informed decisions.
- Climate-proofing of physical and ecosystem infrastructures should also now become a national imperative.
- India must create a new Climate Risk Commission to coordinate the environmental de-risking mission.
- Finally, with loss and damage rising exponentially due to the climate crisis, India must demand climate finance for adaptation-based climate actions at COP-26.
Recently released climate-related indices
Climate Transparency Report 2021
State of Climate Services Report 2021
Climate Induced Migration and Modern Slavery