COP30: India faces unprecedented climate costs as extreme weather wreaks havoc

India is facing a mounting and costly threat as a new climate risk assessment showed the country has lost nearly $170 billion to extreme weather over the past 30 years, with scientists and global organizations warning the future could hold deeper losses unless more preventative steps are taken.

The Germanwatch Climate Risk Index , released on 11 November at the UN climate summit in Belém, Brazil, ranked India as the ninth most affected country globally over the past three decades. Researchers analysed almost 10,000 extreme weather events since 1995, tallying more than 832,000 deaths and direct economic losses topping $4.5 trillion worldwide. For India, the cost from recurring disasters such as floods, heat waves and cyclones continues to rise, affecting entire regions and delaying recov