The Most Affected List

By: Tashi Dorji on December 15th, 2008

Poznan, Poland, December 4: Bhutan was country least affected by weather related disasers in the SAARC region in 2007, and also in the decade 1998-2007, according to an international report released at the UFCCC in Poznan, Poland.

Poznan, Poland, December 4: Bhutan is the country least affected by weather disasters in the SAARC region in 2007, and also in the decade 1998-2007, according to an international report released at the United Nations climate change conference in Poznan, Poland.

The Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2009 released on December 4 by Germanwatch, an environment and development organisation, showed Bhutan is the 115th most affected country in 2007, and stood 126th in the last decade’s list of nations most affected by climate change. Neighbouring Bangladesh has fared much worse and is the most affected of all countries in 2007.

The author of the report, Sven Harmeling of Germanwatch, said: “Bangladesh suffered heavily from cyclone Sidr and experienced more than 4,000 casualties and $10 billion by way of damages.”

Bangladesh was followed by North Korea and Nicaragua as the top three countries most affected by climate change.

Among the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries, Pakistan, at number five, is the only nation alongwith Bangladesh in the top 10 list. It is followed by Nepal at 18, India at 19, Afghanistan at 22, and Sri Lanka at 45. Maldives had not been evaluated.

The list of countries most affected in the decade 1998-2007 is led by Honduras and followed by Bangladesh.

India makes it to the top 10 affected countries in the past decade and stands at number 7. Nepal follows at 14, Pakistan at 31, Afghanistan at 32, and Sri Lanka at 82.

The figures show that Bhutan is the only SAARC nation ranked above 100 in both lists.

While developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom stand as the 20th and 35th most affected respectively in 2007, and 16th and 77th most affected in the last decade, Sven Harmeling said the poorer countries were affected to a much greater degree than the rich ones. He added that developing countries had a far harder time coping with disasters compared to the developed countries.

The extreme weather events in 2007 claimed a record number of more than 15,000 human lives. Millions more were affected.

Global damages amounted to more than US $ 80 billion, which equals about Nu 4,000 billion, enough to finance Bhutan’s 10th Plan 28 times over at its estimated outlay of Nu 141 billion.

Sounding the alarm bell, the report states that changing climate will increase the frequency of storms, floods and other weather-related extreme conditions worldwide.

At the launch of the report, Maarten van Aalst, associate director of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre in The Hague, said the considerable increase in the number of disasters “is partly due to rising vulnerability, and partly already reflecting global climate change — a trend which is bound to continue.”