Why in News ?
India was ‘poorly prepared’ to deal with climate reality due to which it was more vulnerable to extreme natural disasters, according to the World Risk Index (WRI) 2020.
World Risk Index 2020
- Vanuatu was the country with the highest disaster risk worldwide followed by Tonga and Dominica.
- Qatar had the lowest risk (0.31) according to the global index.
- India ranked 89th among 181 countries on the WRI 2020.
- Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives fared better than India in their abilities to cope with extreme disasters.
- Bhutan improved its ranking the most, followed by Pakistan.
- As compared with 2019 report South Asia fall slightly for their prepardness.
- Oceania was the continent most at risk, followed by Africa and the Americas.
- Island countries at risk from the rise in sea level as a result of global warming.
- The report identified Africa as a hotspot of vulnerability.
- More than two-thirds of the most vulnerable countries in the world were located on the continent.
- Central African Republic was the most vulnerable country, followed by Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger and Guinea-Bissau.
Issues related to India
- India lacked behind on adaptive capacities or the preparedness to deal with extreme events.
- India also slipped on strengthening adaptive capacities.
- India’s first comprehensive climate change assessment report has set alarm bells ringing about the impacts of ‘climate crisis’
- The country was fourth-most-at- risk in south Asia on the index, after Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- India and other south Asian nations improved their ranking marginally in the World Risk Index as compared to 2019 report.
About the Report
- WRI is part of the World Risk Report 2020 released September 15 by
- United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
- Bundnis Entwicklung Hilft, in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart in Germany.
- WRI is calculated on a country-by-country basis, through the multiplication of exposure and vulnerability.
- WRI, released annually since 2011
- Indicates which countries are in the greatest need to strengthen measures for coping with and adapting to extreme natural events.
Source : Down To Earth
Topic
GS III : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Current Affairs Compilation : 24 September 2020