Vietnam is one of the four countries hardest hit by extreme weather

Copenhagen (VNA) – Vietnam is one of the four countries hardest hit by extreme weather events from 1990 to 2008, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2010 report.

The report from the climate and development organisation Germanwatch was released
on December 8 at a workshop on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference
in Copenhagen , Denmark .

Germanwatch ranked Bangladesh top of the index with natural disasters claiming
8,241 lives and damaging property worth 2.18 billion US dollars a year on average.
Following are Myanmar , Honduras , Vietnam , Nicaragua , Haiti , India , the
Dominican Republic , the Philippines and China .

600,000 deaths and 1,700 billion USD economic loss are direct consequences from
more than 11,000 extreme weather events in these countries in the period,
Germanwatch said. In Vietnam alone, on yearly average, natural disasters claim
the lives of more than 450 people and cause the loss of over 1.5 billion USD.


No developed country is on the top 10 list of countries worst affected by extreme
weather. On the top 20, there are only four developed countries: Italy ,
Portugal , Spain and the United States .

"Weather extremes are an increasing threat for lives and economic values across
the world, and their impacts will likely grow larger in the future due to climate
change. Our analyses show that in particular poor countries are severely
affected," Sven Harmeling, author of the report, remarked.

Meanwhile, Christoph Bals, Political Director at Germanwatch, pointed out that it
is first and foremost the duty of industrialised countries to implement an
adaptation framework for the most vulnerable developing countries.

The report analyses the impacts of weather-related events - mainly storms, floods
and heat-waves - for all countries currently negotiating in Copenhagen .
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