Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2026:

Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2026:
✔️ Publisher
• Germanwatch (annual index assessing extreme weather events on countries)
How does CRI work?
• Evaluates the long-term vulnerability of countries to extreme weather events
• Measured through:
• Lives lost
• Economic losses (USD)
• Number of extreme events
• Long-term averages (1995–2024)
Global Findings (1995–2024)
• Extreme weather events: 9,700+
• Deaths: 8.32 lakh (832,000)
• Economic costs: Around USD 4.5 trillion (inflation adjusted)
• Reason: Increasing frequency + increasing intensity of disasters due to global warming
Extreme Weather Types:
• Extreme heat
• Heavy rains
• Wildfires
• Floods
• Storms and cyclones

 Why these countries rank high?

• Small island states & poor countries → high exposure + low adaptive capacity
• Dominica → repeated hurricanes
• Myanmar → cyclones, floods; worst hit in 2024 (Typhoon Tyagi)
• Honduras → hurricanes, storms, droughts, landslides

India’s Position

Annual Rank

• 2023: Rank 10
• 2024: Rank 15 (improvement due to fewer major disasters)

Long-term Rank (1995–2024):

• Rank 9

 Why India ranks high;

• ~80,000 deaths due to extreme events (≈9.6% of global total)
• More than 430 documented climate disasters
• Estimated economic loss: USD 170 billion

Major Extreme Weather Events

• Cyclones:
• 1998 Gujarat
• 1999 Odisha
• Hudhud (2014)
• Amphan (2020)
• Floods:

• • 1993 Northern India
  • Uttarakhand floods 2013
  • 2019 severe floods

Top 10 Most affected Countries:

• Heatwaves:

• • Particularly lethal in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2015
  • Temps crossing 50°C

China, Pakistan, U.S. Rankings

• China: Rank 11
• Pakistan: Rank 15
• United States: Rank 18