Pakistan ranks among 10 countries worst hit by climate change: report

**By APD Writer Muhammad Sohail **

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 10 (APD) -- Pakistan is ranked among 10 countries in the world that have been affected the most by climate change in the 20-year period from 1997 to 2016, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2018.

The recently published report placed Pakistan at the seventh place on the list of 10 countries, with a death toll of 523.1 lives per year i.e. 10,462 lives lost in 20 years and economic losses worth 3.8 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 0.605 percent of the GDP in the 20 year period.

In GCRI rankings, Pakistan is ranked fourth when it came to fatalities.

During the said period, Pakistan had suffered from 141 extreme weather events, including cyclones, storms, floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and heat waves, etc., the report said.

The Global Climate Risk Index 2018 published by Germanwatch, an independent development, and environmental organization, has analyzed the extent to which countries have been adversely affected by weather-related events.

The data for 2016 and those for the 1997-2016 period were taken into consideration while formulating the report.

According to the report, a new category of countries has been gaining relevance over recent years: countries like Haiti, the Philippines, and Pakistan that are frequently affected by calamities.

Such countries have been ranked among the most affected ones both in the long-term index and in the index for respective years.

The analysis further confirmed the fact that less developed nations are more vulnerable to the phenomenon.

“The Climate Risk Index may serve as a red flag for an already existing vulnerability that may further increase in regions, where extreme events will become more frequent or more severe due to climate change,” reveals the report.

For 2016, Pakistan had a Climate Risk Index (CRI) score of 50.83, as 566 fatalities were recorded in the year. The report said the climate change has caused a financial loss of 47.31 million loss to Pakistan only in the year 2016.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)