Climate Risk Index 2026: India Ranks 9th in Long-Term Impact
Why in the news
Germanwatch published the 2026 edition of the Climate Risk Index at COP30 in Belém, showing how extreme weather has hit countries over thirty years, with the Global South worst affected.
Key facts
- CRI is brought out yearly by Germanwatch since 2006; data from EM-DAT, the World Bank and the IMF.
- It measures rapid-onset events: floods, cyclones, heatwaves, wildfires, storms and GLOFs; slow-onset trends like sea-level rise, desertification and ocean acidification are excluded.
- Six indicators: deaths, deaths per 100,000 people, losses in USD, losses as % of GDP, number of events, people affected.
- All of the top 10 hit countries are in the Global South, including Dominica, Myanmar, Honduras, Haiti and Libya.
- Cyclone Nargis (Myanmar, 2008) alone killed about 1.4 lakh people.
Global and India numbers
| Measure | World, 1995-2024 | India, 1995-2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Extreme events | 9,700 | 430 |
| Deaths | 832,000 | 80,000+ |
| Economic loss | USD 4.5 trillion | USD 170 billion |
| People affected | – | 1 billion |
India in the CRI
- Long-term rank: 9th.
- In 2024, India was 3rd for people affected, after Bangladesh and the Philippines.
- The 2024 monsoon alone affected 8 million people.
- Floods were the deadliest 2024 disaster worldwide, affecting about 50 million; heatwaves about 33 million; droughts about 29 million.
Climate impacts on India
- Water: Himalayan glacier melt threatens the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus; groundwater draw is 240-260 km³; Gangetic aquifers fall 4 cm a year; arsenic contamination; India ranks 120 of 122 in water quality.
- Mountains: more GLOFs, cloudbursts and forest fires (2023 Sikkim GLOF); black carbon speeds ice loss.
- Coasts: global sea level rising 3.6 mm a year; Mumbai up 4.44 cm (1987-2021); 0.4-0.8 m rise projected by 2100; 250 million coastal residents face seawater intrusion; mangroves and reefs weakening.
- Economy: GDP could drop 6.4-10% by 2100 and 50 million could fall into poverty; heat stress hits dense urban slums.
Recommendations
- Keep warming within 1.5°C; mobilise USD 300 billion by 2035; reach 500+ GW non-fossil capacity by 2030.
- Revise the National Water Policy (2012); promote micro-irrigation and recharge structures.
- Expand mangroves, reefs, dunes, early warning and social safety nets on the coast.
- Green buildings, battery storage, electric mobility; mainstream adaptation; community models such as Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari; invest in R&D on carbon capture.
Exam angle
- Publisher: Germanwatch; released at COP30, Belém.
- India’s long-term CRI rank: 9th.
- Period covered: 1995-2024.