BY Pioneer News Service
At least 14 States in India, are among the top-100 provinces in Asia that stand exposed to damage from extreme weather and climate change, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis of potential damage to infrastructure that has found, China, India and the USA as the most vulnerable countries.
The XDI Gross Domestic Climate Risk data by Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI) compared these territories according to modelled projections of damage to buildings and properties from extreme weather and climate change such as flooding, forest fires, heatwaves and sea level rise.
Asia dominates the list of provinces at risk with more than half (114) of the top 200 in 2050 in this region, with special focus on China and India.
India has set 2070 as Net Zero emission goal and is looking towards foreign investment in a big way.
XDI noted that entities not on the list are not at “low risk” and said many States and provinces facing high risk from extreme weather climate change hazards are not appearing at the top of this ranking due to the lower number of residential, commercial and industrial buildings they had.
According to 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 (9) 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.
The rest of the States in the top 100 are Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Assam would see the maximum increase — over 330 per cent by 2050 as compared to 1990 — in climate risk to the built environment. 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.
Highly-developed and globally-significant Asian economic hubs in the top 100 at damage risk include Beijing, Jakarta, Ho Chí Minh City, Taiwan and Mumbai.
The report is particularly significant for investors, as extensive built infrastructure generally overlaps with high levels of economic activity and capital value.
“In terms of overall scale of damage risk, and in terms of risk escalation, 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, offering a breadth and depth and granularity on a scale we haven’t seen before. Now – for the first time – the finance industry can directly compare Mumbai, New York and Berlin using a like-for-like methodology,” said XDI CEO Rohan Hamden.
In China, which dominates the ranking, at-risk States and provinces are concentrated in the globally-connected east and south, along the floodplains and deltas of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers.
In the US, the economically important states of California, Texas and Florida would be most affected.
Other countries with multiple provinces and States in the top 50 include Brazil, Pakistan and Indonesia. In Europe, high-ranking States encompass the cities of London, Milan, Munich and Venice.
