The Climate Risk Index 2025 reveals that countries like Pakistan suffer significantly from climate change, facing recurring extreme weather events that result in substantial human and economic tolls. Pakistan’s devastating floods in 2022 exemplify vulnerabilities, causing extreme damages and exacerbating societal inequalities. The report calls for urgent international cooperation and funding to strengthen resilience and address the severe challenges posed by climate change.
The Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2025, released by Germanwatch in February 2025, underscores the increasing effects of climate change and the urgent necessity for enhanced resilience strategies. The Index, which has been published since 2006, evaluates data from 1993 to 2022, focusing on the impact of extreme weather events on various countries, revealing significant human and economic consequences.
According to the 2025 CRI, countries are categorized into two groups: those affected by isolated extreme events and those facing ongoing threats. Notably, Pakistan is among several nations, including China, India, and the Philippines, that continuously grapple with climate-related challenges. Global inaction on climate change has led to over 765,000 deaths and approximately $4.2 trillion in economic losses from extreme weather, facilitated by more than 9,400 recorded events.
In the CRI assessment covering the years 1993 to 2022, Dominica, China, and Honduras are identified as the hardest-hit nations. The 2022 report specifically highlights Pakistan’s dire situation, where an unprecedented series of events during the monsoon season resulted in catastrophic floods, affecting over 33 million people and causing damages nearing $15 billion. Moreover, these figures do not factor in reconstruction costs, which are already estimated to exceed $16 billion.
The floods of 2022 starkly exemplify Pakistan’s heightened vulnerability to climate change despite its minimal contribution of less than one percent to global greenhouse gas emissions. The World Bank has assessed this disaster as one of the most expensive in history, exacerbated by climate changes that have intensified seasonal rainfall by approximately 50 percent, increasing socio-economic inequalities.
Women, particularly in rural areas engaged in agriculture and livestock, have borne the brunt of these disasters, facing worsening gender disparities and heightened risks of violence amid challenges posed by displacement. Concurrently, incidents of extreme heat have become significantly more frequent in Pakistan, complicating the nation’s resilience against climate-related issues.
The CRI report relies heavily on data from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, advocating for a reassessment of international measures for building climate resilience. With ongoing stagnation in the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 13 targeting climate change, the report stresses that frequent extreme weather events threaten food and water security, hampering SDG advancement.
Furthermore, the report elucidates the link between climate change and security, noting that its impacts can hinder individual well-being and disrupt national stability. Climate issues are amplified by existing social, economic, and environmental contexts, escalating the potential for conflict, particularly among marginalized communities dependent on agriculture in Asia and Africa, exposed to intensified droughts.
Effective governance and risk management frameworks, as highlighted in the report, are deemed essential, advocating for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. National Adaptation Plans and Global Goal on Adaptation initiatives are critical in addressing adaptation needs, supported by Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems to enhance global resilience efforts.
Despite these calls for action, the outlook for resilience finance appears bleak, with a pressing need for increased financial support for vulnerable nations. Critiques of COP29 center on its New Collective Quantified Goal’s lack of ambition, underscoring a dangerous gap between current adaptation financing and actual needs.
Looking forward, the IPCC projects that future human vulnerability will increasingly manifest in regions lacking robust local and national capacities, with floods, storms, and heatwaves being significant causes of fatalities and economic loss from 1993 to 2022. High-income nations must therefore intensify their mitigation efforts to safeguard against substantial climate impacts.
This CRI report provides a comprehensive analysis that offers guidance for Pakistan’s policymakers to bolster climate resilience strategies. By identifying vulnerabilities and economic losses linked to extreme weather events, the report facilitates targeted investments in infrastructure and disaster preparedness initiatives across the nation, supporting sustainable development.
The CRI 2025 highlights the acute vulnerability of countries like Pakistan to climate change, emphasizing the necessity for immediate action and funding to enhance resilience. The report illustrates the grave economic and societal implications of climate-related disasters, urging the implementation of strategic governance frameworks. Given the pressing need for increased financial support, it stresses that swift, ambitious international cooperation is essential to mitigate future climate impacts and achieve sustainable development goals.
Original Source: www.thenews.com.pk
