Indus Valley Times

CHENNAI, FEB. 21:  Nine states in India, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, are among the top 50 regions in the world facing a high risk of damage to the built environment due to climate change hazards, according to the new report released on Monday.

The report titled “Gross Domestic Climate Risk” assessed the physical climate risk in over 2,600 states and provinces around the world in 2050. The more built-up a state, the greater the risk. The report is from the Australia-based Cross Dependency Initiative or XDI, which is a part of the climate risk group of companies quantifying the costs of climate change.

The ranking was derived using modelled projections of damage to buildings and properties from extreme weather conditions such as flooding, forest fires and sea level rise. As per the analysis, 80 per cent of the top 50 most at-risk states and provinces in 2050 are in China, the US and India. After China, India has the highest number of states (nine) in the top 50, which include Bihar (22nd spot), Uttar Pradesh (25), Assam (28), Rajasthan (32), Tamil Nadu (36), Maharashtra (38), Gujarat (48), Punjab (50) and Kerala (52), it said.

In a response to this correspondent via e-mail, Georgina Woods, head of impact for XDI and The Climate Risk Group, said: “The results of this analysis show that there is no safe harbour from climate change physical risk. Major economic hubs globally, including many economically crucial states in India, rank in the top 100 territories globally for damage risk in 2050 according to our modelling. Together, China, India and the United States have the most states and provinces at the top of the list for damage risk.”

XDI claimed this is the first time there has been a physical climate risk analysis focused exclusively on the built environment, comparing every state, province and territory in the world. The report is particularly significant for investors, as extensive built infrastructure generally overlaps with high levels of economic activity and capital value, XDI said.

“This analysis underscores the importance of pricing physical risk of climate change in financial markets, of finance for global adaptation and of cooperation to prevent the worst of this damage from coming to pass,” Woods told The New Indian Express.

XDI CEO Rohan Hamden said Asia has the most to lose as climate change extreme weather increases, and the most to gain from preventing worsening climate change and accelerating climate-resilient investment. “This is the most sophisticated global analysis of physical climate risk to date. Now, for the first time, the finance industry can directly compare Mumbai, New York and Berlin using a like-for-like methodology,” he said.

-TNIE