Dhaka: Bangladesh incurs a loss of nearly US$300 crore annually due to extreme climate events, including floods, droughts, storms, and heatwaves, affecting over 6.3 million people, according to ‘The Climate Risk Index 2025’ report.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the findings of the report, released on Wednesday by Germanwatch, revealed that Bangladesh incurred a loss of over US$299 crore in 2022 due to natural disasters. The report highlights the significant impact of extreme weather events on the country’s economy and its population.
After taking effective risk prevention and adaptation measures, cyclone-related mortality in Bangladesh has fallen more than 100-fold in the last 40 years, from 500,000 deaths in 1970 to 4,234 in 2007, the report said. This demonstrates the country’s efforts in mitigating the human toll of such disasters.
The report also noted a devastating heatwave from March to May 2022, which reached 49.5°C in Pakistan and extended to India and Bangladesh, causing over 90 deaths. This heatwave was part of a broader pattern of increasing extreme weather events worldwide.
Between 1993 and 2022, over 9,400 extreme weather events occurred globally, resulting in nearly 800,000 deaths and causing economic damages totaling US$4.2 trillion. Countries like China, India, and the Philippines were primarily affected by recurring extreme events, while Dominica, Honduras, Myanmar, and Vanuatu were most impacted by exceptional extreme events.
The report underscores that the number and strength of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, storms, and heatwaves are increasing, gradually becoming the ‘new normal’ in some regions of the world. The Climate Risk Index 2025, published by the environmental organization Germanwatch, showed that over the last 30 years, Global South countries have been particularly affected by the impacts of extreme weather events.
The backward-looking index analyzes how climate-related extreme weather events affect countries and ranks them according to the economic and human effects (fatalities and affected, injured, and homeless people), with the most affected country ranked first. Laura Schaefer, Head of Division for International Climate Policy at Germanwatch, emphasized the urgency of addressing climate change as a global security risk in a press release.
Schaefer stated, “The past three decades show that countries in the Global South are particularly affected by extreme weather events. If the data from these countries were as comprehensive as those from many Global North countries, an even greater degree of economic and human effects might become visible. There are increasing signs that we are entering a critical and unpredictable phase of the climate crisis, which will further aggravate conflicts, destabilize societies and negatively affect human security worldwide.”