Thailand is most vulnerable to climate change

The 2013 Global Climate Risk Report (GCR) said that the Philippines ranked fifth in more than 100 countries studied in terms of vulnerability to climate change in 2011. Thailand tops the list. This ranking is followed by Cambodia, Pakistan and El Salvador.

The study was carried out by German environmental organization Germanwatch, identifying affected countries based on weather-related events such as storms, floods and heat waves.

In 2011, nearly 1,660 Filipinos were killed by weather events. In addition to the loss of people, the Philippines also suffered more than 1 billion USD in assets and crops.

The worst disaster the Philippines suffered was the "Sendong" storm (international name "Washi" ) that landed on Mindanao island on December 17, 2011, killing more than 1,600 people.

The GCR report also stated that Honduras, Myanmar and Nicaragua are the countries most affected by natural disasters over a period of 20 years. Followed by Bangladesh, Haiti and Vietnam. Philippines ranked 14th in this period.

GCR estimates that during 1992-2011, nearly 15,000 extreme weather events claimed more than 530,000 people globally and caused about 2,500 billion USD in damage.

The report also reaffirmed that less developed countries are often more affected than developed countries and the Climate Risk Index (CRI) is a warning sign of vulnerability from cooperation. Climate change dynamics can increase in areas where extreme weather events are frequent or more intense.