Global Climate Risk Index 2019

A new Global Climate Risk Index 2019 report was recently released at the annual climate summit in Poland's Katowice city. In the report, Bangladesh has been ranked 7th among the countries most affected by extreme weather events in 20 years since 1998. The report was prepared after analysing damages caused by extreme weather events that took place from 1998 to 2017.

According to the report, Bangladesh stood 9th among the countries most affected last year, up from 13th the previous year. Nepal was ranked 4th and India 14th in the list. In the last year, 407 people died in Bangladesh due to extreme weather related events- floods, landslide, storms and cyclones. The country also suffered an economic loss of about $2,826.68 million, as per Germanwatch, a Berlin-based environmental organisation.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has already predicted in its scientific report that risks associated with extreme events will continue to increase as the global mean temperature rises.

With four countries in the top of the list, the annual risk index shows that South Asian countries are among the most vulnerable globally to the impacts of climate change. The global risk index report also mentioned that massive rainfall led to floods across Nepal, Bangladesh and India, which affected more than 40 million people.

According to the report, more than 526,000 people died worldwide and there were losses of $3.47 trillion as a result of more than 11,500 extreme weather events between 1998 and 2017.

It is to be mentioned here that many developed countries, including USA, are wilfully avoiding the Kyoto Protocol 1997 despite being the most responsible for greenhouse effect emissions across the world. As a result, the developing and underdeveloped countries are suffering.

The report finally predicted that the occurrence of such events could double in the future due to climate change.

Md. Zillur Rahaman

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd,

Lalmohan Branch, Bhola.

[email protected]