Global Climate Risk Index 2012

The Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index analyses how severely countries have been affected in 2007 and in the decade 1998-2007 by weather-related loss events like hurricanes or floods. It is based on the data of the NatCatSERVICE® of Munich Re and takes into account the following indicators: total number of deaths, deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, absolute losses in million US$ purchasing power parities (PPP) and losses per unit GDP in %. The four indicators imply certain levels of development and vulnerability to multiple risks. This approach thus reflects both the physical impacts of extreme weather events as well as the specific national circumstances which determine the adaptive capacity of countries and their population. The Climate Risk Index does not take into account the number of non-lethally affected people, like those who are injured or displaced, but have not lost their lives. While in principle it would be important to also include these human impacts of weather extremes, there is no data available which is sufficiently reliable across all countries, in particular because of the difficulties of defining what “affectedness” means.1 In the following, the results of the countries most affected are summarised.