Climate Risk Index 2026

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Marry

The Climate Risk Index 2026 investigates who is most affected by extreme weather events, focusing on both long-term and most-recent impacts. It summarizes key results for countries most affected during 1995–2024 and in 2024, and provides a detailed look at relevant event types and associated fatality, affected-person, and economic-loss patterns. The report explains how CRI results are interpreted, including continuous threats and data gaps, links events to climate change using attribution science, and reviews the international climate and resilience policy context that COP30 needs to address.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages74

Reading Time3 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Key Messages

How to read the CRI

Key results of Climate Risk Index 2026

Countries most affected in 1995–2024

Countries most affected in 2024

Detailed look at relevant events

Interpreting the CRI results

Unusually extreme events, continuous threats, and the new normal

How Global South and Global North countries are affected

Data gaps as a challenge to determining climate risks and impacts: A solution approach

Sensitivity analysis: Including HDI data as a proxy for data gaps

Linking extreme weather events and climate change

Current scientific status of attribution science

Attribution of CRI event types to climate change

CRI context: Status quo of international climate and resilience policy

The large emissions gap

Latest developments in international climate and resilience policy

What COP30 needs to deliver to respond to CRI results

Method

Objectives and scope

Components and indicators

Calculating the CRI score

Time frames

Limitations of the index

Climate Risk Index 2026 Who suffers most from extreme weather events? Published by germanwatch Authors: Lina Adil, David Eckstein, Vera Künzel, Laura Schäfer Contributors: Linus Nolte Editor: Adam Goulston Design: DRID Kommunikation und Design GmbH, Hamburg Publisher: Germanwatch e.V. Cover image: Hurricane Beryl, Wikimedia, ABI imagery from NOAA’s GOES-16 Satellite Publishing date: November 2025 The authors thank Pieter van Breevoort, Regina Below (EM-DAT), Simon Merschroth (PIK), Cornelia Auer (PIK), Barbora Sedova (PIK), Lena Klockemann (GIZ), Britta Horstmann (GIZ), and Mirjam Harteisen (GIZ) for their valuable input and feedback during the methodological revision, preparation, and review of this report. We extend our great thanks to our Germanwatch colleagues Lisa Schultheiß, Magdalena Mirwald, Christoph Bals, Jan Burck, Thea Uhlich, Rixa Schwarz, Petter Lydén, Christine Noel, Stefan Küper, Katarina Heidrich, Jakob Borchers, Tobias Regesch, Lukas Kiefer, Johannes Heeg, and Jessica Link for their valuable input and support during the preparation and review of the report. The authors are responsible for the content of this publication. This project measure ‘Revision, preparation and publication of the Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index’ is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office (FFO) . Germanwatch is implementing the project measure with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the Climate Diplomacy Action Programme (CDAP) . The IKI is a funding programme by the German Federal Government, established in 2008 to promote climate action and biodiver-sity conservation. 2 Climate Risk Index 2026 Contents Key Messages 6 1 Introduction 8 1.1 Qualifier: How to read the CRI 9 2 Key results of Climate Risk Index 2026 10 2.1 Countries most affected in 1995–2024 10 2.2 Countries most affected in 2024 14 2.3 Detailed look at relevant events 18 3 Interpreting the CRI results 24 3.1 Unusually extreme events, continuous threats, and the new normal 24 3.2 How Global South and Global North countries are affected 25 3.3 Data gaps as a challenge to determining climate risks and impacts: A solution approach 29 3.4 Sensitivity analysis: Including HDI data as a proxy for data gaps 31 4 Linking extreme weather events and climate change 34 4.1 Current scientific status of attribution science 34 4.2 Attribution of CRI event types to climate change 35 5 CRI context: Status quo of international climate and resilience policy 41 5.1 The large emissions gap 41 5.2 Latest developments in international climate and resilience policy 42 5.3 What COP30 needs to deliver to respond to CRI results 45 6 Method 47 6.1 Objectives and scope 47 6.2 Components and indicators 48 6.3 Calculating the CRI score 49 6.4 Time frames 51 6.5 Limitations of the index 51 Bibliography 58 Annex 71 Climate Risk Index 2026 3 List of abbreviations AMOC AR6 BMZ COP CRI DPO UN DPPA EEA EM-DAT FRLD GDP GGA GHG GST HDI ICJ IOM IMF IPCC L&D LDCs LLDCs MHEWS MoI NAP NCQG ND-GAIN NDCs ODA PPP SB SDGs SIDS UNDP UNDRR UNEP UNFCCC UNGA UNOCHA UNSG VC WMO WWA Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany) Conference of the Parties Climate Risk Index Department of Peace Operations UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs European Environment Agency Emergency Events Database Fund for responding to Loss and Damage Gross domestic product Global Goal on Adaptation Greenhouse gas Global Stocktake Human Development Index International Court of Justice International Organization for Migration International Monetary Fund Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Loss and damage Leas

FAQs

What question does the Climate Risk Index 2026 address?

It asks who suffers most from extreme weather events, combining evidence from fatality, affected-person, and economic-loss impacts across different time frames.

Which countries are analyzed in the main results?

The report covers countries most affected in 1995–2024 and the 10 most affected countries in 2024, and also includes broader comparisons (e.g., 20 countries) including HDI-corrected views.

How does the report connect extreme weather events to climate change?

It links event types to climate change using attribution science, and discusses current scientific status and methodological approaches within the CRI framework.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Marry