9 Indian states among 50 most climate vulnerable regions

NEW DELHI: A report released by the Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI) titled ‘Gross Domestic Climate Risk’ mentioned the top 50 regions in the world including nine Indian states to be facing a high risk of climate change. The report named Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Assam, Rajasthan, Kerala, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

According to the report, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Assam had the highest Aggregated Damage Ratio (ADR), which is the total projected amount of damage to the built environment in a particular region in 2050. The report also stated that the higher the ADR, the higher the ranking in this report.

The report calculated the physical climate risk to the built environment in over 2,600 states and regions worldwide in 2050. China had the highest number of regions, followed by India and the United States.

In the list, Asia dominated with 114 among the top 200 regions. Asia is most vulnerable to climate change in terms of overall damage risk. On the other hand, it stands to gain the most from preventing climate change to worsen and boosting investment in climate-resilient projects. Other countries with multiple provinces and states in the top 50 are Brazil, Pakistan, and Indonesia. 

China is home to nine of the top 10 most vulnerable cities and 14 of the top 15. The three cities with the highest risk are Jiangsu, Shandong, and Hebei. In addition to this, Guangzhou has been estimated to be “the most economically vulnerable city in the world” by 2050 due to sea level rise. The only non-Chinese state in the top 10 was Florida, United States.

The report pointed out that Bihar would be the most vulnerable state of India, with 22^nd rank globally, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Assam, ranking 25^th and 28^th respectively.

According to XDI, this is the first physical climate risk analysis focused exclusively on the built environment that has compared every state, province, and territory in the world. XDI also stated that the report is especially important for investors as extensive built infrastructure generally overlaps with high levels of economic activity and capital value.