India ranked sixth in the Climate Risk Index 2025 by Germanwatch, highlighting its vulnerability to extreme weather events from 1993 to 2022. Accounting for 10% of global fatalities and $180 billion in damages, India faced over 400 events, including floods, cyclones, and heatwaves. Germanwatch emphasizes the disproportionate impact on Global South nations and calls for stronger climate finance and mitigation efforts. Experts warn that delayed action will escalate human and economic costs, urging global collaboration to address the growing climate crisis.
India has emerged as one of the most affected nations by extreme weather events over the past three decades, highlighting its vulnerability to climate change. According to the Climate Risk Index 2025, published by Germanwatch, India ranked sixth globally among countries hit hardest by climate-related events between 1993 and 2022. This independent environmental and human rights organization, based in Bonn and Berlin, underscores the pressing need for global action to address the climate crisis. During this period, India accounted for 10% of global fatalities from such events and 4.3% of the associated economic damages.
The report places Dominica, China, Honduras, Myanmar, and Italy ahead of India in the rankings. Despite this, India's challenges stand out due to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events it has faced. Over the decades, the country endured devastating floods in 1993, 1998, and 2013, as well as scorching heatwaves in 2002, 2003, and 2015. Additionally, cyclones such as the 1998 Gujarat cyclone, the 1999 Odisha cyclone, Cyclone Hudhud in 2014, and Cyclone Amphan in 2020 wreaked havoc. The Uttarakhand floods in 2013 and recurring heatwaves with temperatures nearing 50°C further illustrate the nation's climate-related struggles. In total, India faced over 400 extreme events, resulting in approximately $180 billion in economic losses and at least 80,000 fatalities.
Globally, the impact of extreme weather events has been staggering. Germanwatch reports that such events caused nearly 800,000 deaths and $4.2 trillion in damages between 1993 and 2022. The organization's analysis, based on data from the International Disaster Database (Em-Dat) and socio-economic information from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), aims to highlight how climate-related disasters affect countries economically and socially. Other nations in the top 10 of the Climate Risk Index include Greece, Spain, Vanuatu, and the Philippines, with countries in the Global South bearing the brunt of these impacts.
Laura Schaefer, Head of Division for International Climate Policy at Germanwatch, emphasized the urgency of addressing the climate crisis. “The climate crisis is increasingly becoming a global security risk and must be addressed with bold multilateral actions. Leaders at the Munich Security Conference cannot discuss security challenges without addressing climate change. The past three decades show that countries in the Global South are particularly affected by extreme weather events. If the data from these countries were as comprehensive as those from many Global North countries, an even greater degree of economic and human effects might become visible. There are increasing signs that we are entering a critical and unpredictable phase of the climate crisis, which will further aggravate conflicts, destabilize societies and negatively affect human security worldwide,” she said.
The report also highlights the inadequacies in climate finance to tackle these challenges. It notes that COP29 in Baku fell short of delivering an ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance. “Considering the identified needs, and the great urgency of the climate challenges that developing countries face, the $300 billion (promised) annually by 2035 can only be seen as the bare minimum response to the escalating climate crisis. NCQG also failed to include measures to address loss and damage. This gap must be filled as soon as possible,” the report stated.
David Eckstein, Senior Advisor for Climate Finance and Investments at Germanwatch and co-author of the index, stressed the importance of immediate action. “High-income and high-emission countries must recognize the urgency of accelerating mitigation efforts. The less we invest in mitigation and adaptation today, the more staggering the human and economic costs will be in the future,” he said.
The findings serve as a reminder of the growing need for international cooperation and robust policies to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis. India's resilience in the face of these challenges reflects the determination of nations in the Global South to adapt, but it also underscores the necessity of global solidarity in addressing a crisis that knows no borders.
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