New Delhi, Feb 20: Nine Indian states are among the top 50 regions in the world with the highest risk of damage due to climate change, a report released on Monday said. These are – Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat.
Interestingly, Jammu & Kashmir does not figure among the most vulnerable states in the classification.
This latest classification would be received with a sigh of relief in J&K, which is already reeling under major climate change impacts across it’s food chain spectrum.
However, experts caution that this classification should not create a public policy complacency on J&K considering the gigantic risks J&K faces owing to its fragile ecology as characteristic as a major watershed and water source reservoir for the country and the region as a whole.
According to the 2023 Gross Domestic Climate Risk report released by Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI), Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Assam had the highest Aggregated Damage Ratio (ADR). ADR is the total amount of damage to the built environment in a particular region in 2050. 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 provinces worldwide in 2050.
Asia dominated the list with 114 among the top 200 regions falling here. China had the highest number of regions, followed by India and the United States of America (USA).
“80 per cent of the top 50 most at-risk states and provinces in 2050 are in China, the United States or India,” the report said.
In terms of overall damage risk, Asia has the most to lose due to climate change. On the other hand, it has the most to gain from preventing worsening climate change and accelerating climate-resilient investment.
“Other countries with multiple provinces and states in the top 50 include Brazil, Pakistan and Indonesia,” it added.
Notably, nine out of the top 10 and 14 out of the top 15 most vulnerable cities are from China. Jiangsu, Shandong and Hebei were the top three cities with maximum risk. Moreover, Guangzhou has been estimated to be “the most economically vulnerable city in the world” to sea level rise by 2050.
The only non-Chinese state in the top 10 was Florida from the USA.
Bihar, India’s most vulnerable state, was at 22nd rank globally. Uttar Pradesh followed it at 25 and Assam at 28th.
“Pakistan also has multiple provinces in the top 100, including Sindh province. Devastating flooding between June and August 2022 affected 30 per cent of the area of Pakistan and has partially or fully damaged more than 900,000 houses in Sindh province,” the report said.
