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A new report, Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2026, published by Germanwatch, released at COP30 in Belém on Tuesday (November 11, 2025) evening, finds that more than 832,000 people died, nearly 5.7 billion were affected, and economic losses exceeded $4.5 trillion (inflation-adjusted) from over 9,700 extreme weather events between 1995 and 2024.
Germanwatch is a Bonn-based environmental and development organisation that advocates for global equity and sustainability in climate policy.
India ranks ninth among the countries most affected during this period, facing recurring floods, cyclones, droughts, and increasingly severe heatwaves. “Countries such as Haiti, the Philippines, and India – all of which are among the ten most affected – face particular challenges. They are hit by floods, heatwaves, or storms so regularly that entire regions can hardly recover from the impacts until the next event strikes,” said Vera Künzel, senior advisor on climate change adaptation and human rights at Germanwatch.
The report made available on Wednesday (November 12, 2025) identifies Dominica, Myanmar, and Honduras as the most affected countries in the long-term index, while St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Chad top the list for 2024. The Caribbean islands were devastated by Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall as a Category 5 storm in July. Scientists say its rapid intensification was driven by exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures linked to climate change.
“Heat waves and storms pose the greatest threat to human life when it comes to extreme weather events. Storms also caused by far the greatest monetary damage, while floods were responsible for the greatest number of people affected,” said Laura Schäfer, co-author of the CRI.
The CRI analysis shows that heatwaves and storms each accounted for 33% of fatalities over the past 30 years, while floods caused 25%. Storms were responsible for 58% of economic losses – about $2.64 trillion – and floods for $1.31 trillion, while floods affected nearly half of all impacted people worldwide.
India’s record includes nearly 430 extreme weather events since 1995, causing over 80,000 fatalities, affecting 1.3 billion people, and inflicting economic losses of nearly $170 billion. The report cites major disasters such as the 1998 Gujarat cyclone, the 1999 Odisha cyclone, Uttarakhand floods in 2013, severe floods in Maharashtra and Tripura in 2019, and Cyclone Amphan in 2020, which attribution studies link to climate change. West Bengal and Odisha bore the brunt of Amphan, while recurring heatwaves have scorched northern and central India, with temperatures nearing 50°C in recent years.
“The results of the CRI 2026 clearly demonstrate that COP30 must find effective ways to close the global ambition gap,” said David Eckstein, senior advisor on climate finance and investments at Germanwatch. “Global emissions have to be reduced immediately; otherwise, there is a risk of a rising number of deaths and economic disasters worldwide. At the same time, adaptation efforts must be accelerated. Effective solutions for loss and damage must be implemented, and adequate climate finance must be provided,” Mr. David added.
The report also highlights systemic inequities: none of the ten most affected countries in the long-term index are high-income nations, and eight of the ten most affected in 2024 are in low- or lower-middle-income groups. This reinforces what the IPCC has long warned—that those least responsible for climate change bear its heaviest burden.
Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark opinion, declaring that nations have a binding legal obligation to prevent and respond to the harm caused by climate change. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 ranks extreme weather as the second greatest global risk, surpassed only by armed conflict.
“The new normal of the climate crisis is no longer a projection – it is already here,” Ms. Schäfer said.
The report calls on negotiators at COP30 to deliver a clear roadmap to close the global ambition gap, operationalise the Global Goal on Adaptation, and secure adequate finance for vulnerable nations. It also urges decisive steps to implement solutions for loss and damage, which remain underfunded despite escalating costs.
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