India lost $87 billion last year due to natural disasters such as tropical cyclones, floods and droughts, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) “State of the Climate in Asia” report released on Tuesday. The development came just days before a UN-led summit on climate change, COP26, starts in Glasgow, Scotland.
The disasters that hit India resulted in an average annual loss (AAL) of several hundred billion dollars, as estimated by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which the WMO referred to in its report.
China recorded the highest loss, at $238 billion, followed by $87 billion in India and $83 billion in Japan. The highest AALs were associated with drought, the WMO said.
Cyclone Amphan, one of the strongest cyclones recorded in recent times, hit the Sundarbans region in India and Bangladesh in May 2020, displacing 2.4 million people in India and 2.5 million people in Bangladesh, the report said, adding that intense cyclones, monsoon rains and floods hit densely populated areas in South Asia and East Asia, and led to the displacement of millions of people in India, China, Bangladesh, Japan, Pakistan, Nepal and Vietnam last year.
