TYPHOON DAMAGE A school in Buguey, Cagayan, suffered extensive damage, with its roof torn off by strong winds due to a typhoon which devastated parts of the province in November 2024. 鈥擟ontributed photo
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Philippines ranked 10th in the list of countries most affected by extreme weather events over nearly three decades based on a study released by an environmental policy think tank.
Leading the list was Dominica, followed by China, Honduras, Myanmar, Italy, India, Greece, Spain, and Vanuatu, according to the 2025 Climate Risk Index (CRI) presented by Germanwatch on Wednesday.
Germanwatch said the Philippines placed high on the list because of the 鈥渞elative number of people affected, accompanied by relative fatalities and economic losses鈥� caused by past climate events.
The study found out that over 29 years, or from 1993 to 2022, more than 6.4 million Filipinos were affected by a total of 372 extreme weather events, causing more than $34 billion in economic losses when adjusted for inflation, or almost P2 trillion.
READ:
鈥淏ecause of [the Philippines鈥橾 geographical location, the archipelagic country is regularly hit by typhoons, such as Ketsana (locally known as Ondoy) in 2009, Bopha (Pablo) in 2012, Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013, Mangkhut (Ompong) in 2018 and Goni (Rolly) in 2020,鈥� said Germanwatch.
The nongovernment organization noted that Supertyphoon Yolanda alone鈥攖he strongest recorded typhoon in the Philippines鈥攌illed more than 7,000 people and damaged 1.1 million homes in nine regions. Total damages reached $13 billion, or almost P757 billion.
Continuous threat
鈥淎part from these exceptionally devastating typhoons, the Philippines was hit by multiple other tropical cyclones every year between 1993 and 2022, making these events a continuous threat,鈥� it added.
Germanwatch said that a high rank in the CRI should serve as a 鈥渨arning鈥� to listed countries that these hazards may continue to occur and may even intensify due to global warming.
鈥淪cience can clearly demonstrate climate change鈥檚 significant effect on the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events,鈥� read the study.
The Philippines, the group said in particular, regularly ranks among the most affected countries because of the continuous threats from climate events.
The country previously ranked fourth globally among countries most affected by extreme weather events that occurred from 2000 to 2019, based on Germanwatch鈥檚 2021 index, its latest release before this year鈥檚 study.
Climate financing
According to the group, the CRI highlighted the need for more vulnerable countries to increase climate financing.
Germanwatch noted that a New Climate Finance Goal for post-2025 was decided during the Conference of Parties 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, but it was 鈥減erceived as a great disappointment.鈥�
鈥淚t targets mobilizing [around $300] billion annually by 2035 for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, without clear thematic subgoals or floors,鈥� the study said. 鈥淭he decision includes the request that developed countries 鈥榯ake the lead鈥� (with no clear definition of what this refers to), while developing countries are encouraged to contribute voluntarily.鈥�
It also noted that when it comes to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, which also aims to provide financing for vulnerable countries, 鈥渇ew countries have announced a contribution, and the overall volume of pledges (around $56 million) is very low compared with the needs.鈥�
The CRI 鈥渋s a backward-looking index鈥� that examines the realized risks of 171 countries. The study analyzed the effects of climate-related extreme weather events based on data from the International Disaster Database of EM-DAT, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Extreme weather events were classified by the index into three categories: hydrological (such as floods), meteorological (storms and heat waves) and climatological (wildfires and droughts).