Nine Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Punjab, are among the top 50 regions in the world at risk due to climate change hazards, according to the recent 'Gross Domestic Climate Risk' report released on Monday.
The report is published by Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI) and ranks over 2,600 jurisdictions around the world, identifying which of these jurisdictions "see the greatest escalation of modelled damage from 1990 to 2050". The data compared these regions based on projections of the damage that extreme weather and climate change such as flooding, forest fires, and sea level rise, will cause to structures and properties.
According to XDI CEO Rohan Hamden, “This is the first time there has been a physical climate risk analysis focused exclusively on the built environment, comparing every state, province, and territory in the world.”
Here are key takeaways from the report.
What does the report say about India?
According to the analysis, China, India and the US make up over half the states and provinces in the top 100 of the list. While China has twenty-six high-risk states, the US has five, and India has nine of them in top 50.
The nine Indian states in the top 50 include Bihar (22), Uttar Pradesh (25), Assam (28), Rajasthan (32), Tamil Nadu (36), Maharashtra (38), Gujarat (44), Punjab (48), and Kerala (50).
Which other countries are at risk?
China overall is at the highest risk of climate change impact. In fact, 12 of the top 20 high-risk regions in the world are in China. This could also have a significant global impact, the report notes.
Jiangsu and Shandong, two of China’s major sub-national economies, rank first globally in terms of climate change risk. The report claims that some of the largest manufacturing centres in the world are situated in parts of China that are at risk from extreme weather and rising sea levels.
The United States has the second-most high-risk states after China. Eighteen of its states placing among the top 100. The economically significant US states of Florida, Texas, and California are the most severely impacted.
Besides, multiple provinces and states of Brazil, Pakistan, and Indonesia make it to the top 50. According to the report, "South East Asia experiences the greatest escalation in damage from 1990 to 2050 anywhere in the world".
European cities like London, Milan, Venice, Antwerp, Hanover and Lille Europe are at a high risk of damages due to climate change.
How does the report define 'risk of damage'?
The effects of climate change palpable than ever. Cyclones, hurricanes, hotter temperatures, drought, frequent wildfires, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and flooding have been reported from across the world, causing damage to life and property.
The report uses data from 2600 states and territories to summarise the physical risk to a property from extreme weather and climate change in 2050. This risk is expressed as Damage Ratio which is the annual average loss from extreme weather damage to a property to the replacement cost of that property. The ratio does not take into account exchange rates, inflation and other variables. Also, these estimates do not account for increases in building stock over time.