According to the Climate Risk Index, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and have the most severe impact on poor countries. However, according to the report, Germany is not immune from the impacts of climate change.
While the climate change summit in Belém struggles to make progress in the fight against global warming, the Philippines is currently repairing major damage caused by another typhoon.
This is nothing new: Every time the global community meets at a UN conference at the end of the year, tropical cyclones are particularly strong. And the numbers are increasing: “What we are seeing is that countries like the Philippines, for example, are being impacted by extreme weather over a smaller period of time,” said Laura Schäfer of the environmental and development organization Germanwatch.
“What this means: A tropical cyclone comes and destroys most of the fertile land and infrastructure,” explains Schäfer. The residents then rebuilt everything, but two weeks later another storm came. According to the scientist, this development is increasing.
More than 830,000 deaths in 30 years
According to the current Climate Risk Index, more than 830,000 people will die worldwide from storms, floods, heat waves and droughts between 1995 and 2024. Economic losses amount to around 3.8 trillion euros.
According to Germanwatch, Myanmar, Honduras and the island nation of Dominica have been most affected by extreme weather events over the past 30 years. Hurricane Maria caused major damage in Dominica in 2017. Cyclone Nargis killed around 140,000 people in Myanmar in 2008.
According to the index, heat waves and hurricanes cause the most deaths, while hurricanes also cause the most property damage. Poor countries and developing countries top the risk index, but industrialized countries such as the United States and European Union countries such as France, Italy and Spain are also hit hard.
| Countries most affected by climate change in 2024 | ||
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1. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
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2. Granada |
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3. Cad |
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4. Papua New Guinea |
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5. Nigeria |
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6. Nepal |
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7. Philippines |
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8. Malawi |
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9. Myanmar |
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10. Vietnam |
Germany in the first quarter of the affected countries
Germany will not go unnoticed either, says Germanwatch’s Laura Schäfer, who co-authored the report: “Germany has long been in the first quarter of the world’s most affected countries – it currently ranks 29th in the long-term index.” This is mainly caused by heat waves. “We had heat waves in 2003, 2018 and 2020 that killed up to 8,700 people.”
Essentially, the balance underscores the scientifically confirmed trend that tropical cyclones are becoming stronger and more dangerous in a hotter world, explained one of the index’s authors, Lina Adil. And he sees the report as a clear message to the summit:
This should be seen as a warning signal that the number of extreme weather events is increasing and climate policy must respond to this: quickly reduce emissions, compensate for damage and losses, and do more to adapt to climate change.
Northerners have a historical responsibility
According to Germanwatch, the results of this study confirm the fundamental injustice suffered most by countries least responsible for human-caused climate change: “Northern countries such as Germany have a historical responsibility to support countries in dealing with climate impacts,” said Schäfer.
And not just out of solidarity, as he stressed. This year there was also an opinion from the International Court of Justice. “There is a legally binding obligation for countries like Germany to also financially support developing countries in facing the impacts of climate change,” Schäfer said.
Evaluation more international Database
For the risk index, Germanwatch uses figures from the international disaster database (EM-DAT) as well as information from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The organization stressed that evaluating the number of victims and damages does not allow making simple statements about the magnitude of the impact of climate change.
However, a picture of the impact on the states can be drawn. There is broad consensus in climate science that many weather events will become more frequent and severe as a result of the climate crisis.
