Philippines — At least 17 provinces in the country are among the top 100 areas in the world that are most vulnerable to climate change driven disasters, according to a report.
These are Aurora, Cagayan, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Sur, Leyte, Northern Samar, Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Samar, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Sur, Sulu, Tarlac, and Zambales.
The study conducted by Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI) measures the impact of eight climate change hazards on the built environment of different states, provinces, and territories around the world.
These hazards include riverine and surface flooding, coastal inundation, extreme heat, forest fire, soil subsidence (in drought), extreme wind (synoptic and tropical cyclones), and freeze thaw.
A total of 2,600 areas around the world were analyzed in the report.
A 2019 study by the World Bank Group ranked the Philippines second to the highest in terms of climate risk.
Climatelinks — a global knowledge portal for USAID staff — also found that the country is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change like sea level rise, increased frequency of extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and extreme rainfall.
“This is due to its high exposure to natural hazards (cyclones, landslides, floods, droughts), dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources and vast coastlines where all major cities and the majority of the population reside,” the study read.
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