Developing countries worst victims of extreme weather: report
CGTN

Seven of the top ten countries facing the worst impact of climate change in the last decade are developing economies, the rest three are Japan, Germany and Canada.

While Japan is on top of the list, Fiji ranks No. 10 on the Global Climate Risk Index released by the environmental think-tank Germanwatch on Wednesday.

"The Climate Risk Index shows that climate change has disastrous impacts especially for poor countries, but also causes increasingly severe damages in industrialized countries like Japan or Germany," said David Eckstein of Germanwatch.

After analyzing the data from 1999 to 2018, researchers found heatwaves caused maximum damage last year. The worst victims of the extended period of the heatwaves were Germany, ranked third, Japan and India, ranked fifth in the list. Sri Lanka is ranked sixth. 

The Philippines, which faced the most powerful typhoon recorded worldwide in 2018 causing substantial infrastructure loss, is ranked second in the list. 

Developing countries are investing a substantial part of their GDP to overcome infrastructural loss due to extreme weather events. /Infographic by Li Jingjie

Developing countries are investing a substantial part of their GDP to overcome infrastructural loss due to extreme weather events. /Infographic by Li Jingjie

"Those who are least responsible for the problem are the ones who are suffering the most. This is unacceptable," said Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Philippines.

Kenya and Rwanda - seventh and eighth in the index – faced an onslaught of heavy rains destroying crops, flooding residential areas and also witnessed the outbreak of diseases. Canada ranked ninth on the list.

"Countries like Haiti, Philippines and Pakistan are repeatedly hit by extreme weather events and have no time to fully recover. That underlines the importance of reliable financial support mechanisms for poor countries," Eckstein added.

In order to help the developing countries recover from the damages caused by extreme weather events, the ongoing climate summit (COP25) in Madrid should address the issue, a statement by the think tank suggested. 

These countries need additional climate finance to help most deprived people and countries in dealing with losses and damages, Laura Schaefer from Germanwatch said.

"They are hit hardest by climate change impacts because they lack the financial and technical capacity to deal with the losses and damages," she added.

(Cover: Baao Town in Camarines Sur province, Philippines submerged in floodwater after being hit by a powerful storm on December 30, 2018. /VCG Photo)