Context: Recently, Climate Vulnerability Index was released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Key highlights of the Report

• 27 Indian states and Union Territories are vulnerable to extreme climate events.
• 463 out of 640 districts in India are vulnerable to extreme floods, droughts, and cyclones.
• More than 45 per cent of these districts have undergone unsustainable landscape and infrastructure changes.

India’s most climate vulnerable districts: Dhemaji and Nagaon in Assam, Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Khammam in Telangana, Gajapati in Odisha, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, and Sangli in Maharashtra.

• 183 hotspot districts are highly vulnerable to more than one extreme climate events
• 60% of Indian districts have medium to low adaptive capacity in handing extreme weather events – these districts don’t have robust plans in place to mitigate impact
• North-eastern states are more vulnerable to floods
• South and central are most vulnerable to extreme droughts
• 59 and 41 per cent of the total districts in the eastern and western states, respectively, are highly vulnerable to extreme cyclones.
• More than 60 per cent of Indian districts have medium to low adaptive capacity.

States in North East are more vulnerable to floods, while the ones in the south and central are most vulnerable to extreme droughts.

• 59 and 41 per cent of the total districts in the eastern and western states, respectively, are highly vulnerable to extreme cyclones.
• Only 63 per cent of Indian districts have a District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP).
• Only 32 per cent of them had updated plans until 2019.

What has compounded the impact of weather events ?

• Apart from the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events which have increased in the country, the report finds that “land disruptions’’ have increased the impact of these events. 
• Land disruptions primarily point to anthropogenic activity including change of land use, increased construction, reclaiming of land for development – resulting in the disappearance of forests, wetlands, mangroves and other such habitats. 
• These ecosystems have traditionally acted as natural buffers against such extreme weather, reducing the impact. With their disappearance, the impact of the weather events have increased and are being felt more across the country.

What are the recommendations that have been made?

• Develop a high-resolution Climate Risk Atlas (CRA) to map critical vulnerabilities at the district level and better identify, assess, and project chronic and acute risks such as extreme climate events, heat and water stress, crop loss, vector-borne diseases and biodiversity collapse. A CRA can also support coastal monitoring and forecasting, which are indispensable given the rapid intensification of cyclones and other extreme events.
• Establish a centralised climate-risk commission to coordinate the environmental de-risking mission.
• Undertake climate-sensitivity-led landscape restoration focused on rehabilitating, restoring, and reintegrating natural ecosystems as part of the developmental process.
• Integrate climate risk profiling with infrastructure planning to increase adaptive capacity.
• Provide for climate risk-interlinked adaptation financing by creating innovative CVI-based financing instruments that integrate climate risks for an effective risk transfer mechanism.

Road Ahead

• Policymakers, industry leaders and citizens must use the district-level analysis to make effective risk-informed decisions. India must collaborate with other countries to create a Global Resilience Reserve Fund, which could act as insurance against climate shocks.