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Getting climate funds to conflict zones – a case for working with armed groups and local communities
December 04, 2023
Civilians and armed groups alike are increasingly concerned about climate change. The international community, however, is doing little to address its impact in these vulnerable areas. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative has identified 25 countries as most vulnerable to climate change and least prepared to adapt to its impact. Of these, 15 have been hit hard by conflict. This list includes Somalia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan.
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The WPS Index and the Gender-Climate-Security Nexus
December 01, 2023
These findings yield critical policy implications. Decisionmakers working on issues of climate and security must:
Leverage systematized information and metrics—such as the WPS Index, other indices of gender equality, and climate resilience indices such as the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index, the State Resilience Index, and the Environmental Performance Index—to promote data-informed work across the gender-climatesecurity nexus.
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Ancient Warning of a Rising Sea
November 17, 2023
Indeed, with half of its land area and 30 percent of its oceans protected, the country’s forests and seagrass meadows currently pull more carbon out of the air than its people emit. Yet the nation is listed sixth in the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative’s ranking of countries most exposed to climate impacts. U.N. scientists project that the sea level around the Seychelles will rise by another 2 to 2.5 feet by the end of the century — enough to inundate 1 in 8 buildings and 42 percent of major roads on the main island of Mahé, according to the country’s coastal management plan.
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How Africa’s first heat officer is protecting women in Sierra Leone
November 09, 2023
Sierra Leone is the 18th most climate vulnerable country in the world, according to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index. The challenge is compounded by other environmental crises besides extreme heat – in 2017, a devastating landslide and floods affected more than 6,000 people and killed more than 1,000.
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Tropical Cyclone Kills Two, Displaces 10,000 In Yemen
October 25, 2023
The University of Notre Dame's Global Adaptation Initiative ranks Yemen as one of the region's most climate-vulnerable countries.
In recent years, Yemen has seen an increase in the frequency and intensity of rainfall due to climate change acting on atmospheric circulation in the Indian Ocean. -
Mali's natural capital offers opportunities for private climate finance and green growth, says the African Development Bank's 2023 Country Focus Report
October 05, 2023
However, despite its very low contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions at 0.06%, Mali is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate hazards (175th most vulnerable out of 185 countries in 2021, according to Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative). Mali's Nationally Determined Contribution (revised for 2021) estimates its financing needs to address climate change at $15.3 billion over the period 2020-2030.
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The Father of Environmental Justice Exposes the Geography of Inequity
September 20, 2023
Countries that emit more carbon dioxide per capita tend to be less vulnerable to the effects of those emissions than other regions are. This conclusion is based on data from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative's country index, which quantifies a country's vulnerability to climate hazards based on a number of variables—exposure, sensitivity and ability to adapt across six areas: food, water, health, ecosystem service, human habitat, and infrastructure. Higher index values reflect higher levels of vulnerablity. When a country's index value is plotted against its per capita carbon emissions, a trend becomes visible and illustrates the vulnerability of less industrialized nations.
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Libya floods: There will be many, many more Dernas
September 18, 2023
In climate scenarios, a lot comes down to governance. Better leaders and institutions mean countries are more likely to plan ahead, maintain infrastructure and respond to crises. Libya is ranked 126 of 185 countries on the ND-GAIN Index, which calculates resilience to climate change.
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Kenya wants to pioneer a new African approach to global warming
September 14, 2023
Africa, with 18% of the global population, is responsible for less than 4% of historic carbon-dioxide emissions, but has 16 of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative, an American research project.
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Policy paper UK–Sahel region development partnership summary, July 2023
July 17, 2023
Three out of the 5 Sahel countries are among the most vulnerable countries to climate change, and least prepared to cope or adapt (Chad is last on the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative’s country index). Temperatures in the Sahel are rising at 1.5 times the global average, and, by 2080, due to increase by 2.0 to 4.3°C. The region also suffers increasingly pronounced wet and dry seasons, and extreme rainfall. By 2080, projected annual precipitation is expected to increase by up to 16mm.
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Policy paper UK–Uganda development partnership summary, July 2023
July 17, 2023
“Uganda is the 13th most vulnerable country to the negative impacts of climate change [footnote 10], and deforestation and land degradation are increasing these risks and damaging biodiversity.” - ND-GAIN citation
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Supporting Women's Reproductive Health Is Key to Climate Goals | Opinion
July 11, 2023
Growing vulnerability from climate change adds even greater urgency to the challenges posed by these looming population issues. In a new report, Population Growth and Climate Change Vulnerability: Understanding Current Trends to Enhance Rights and Resilience, the Population Institute asked researchers to analyze population and other indicators in the 80 most climate-vulnerable nations, as rated by the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN). They found that the average population growth rate in the most vulnerable countries is double the global rate, and concluded that such growth also has important—yet often overlooked—implications for climate change adaptation and resilience.
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From shock and awe to stability and flaws: Iraq’s post-invasion journey
May 26, 2023
Looking at ND-GAIN's graph assessing Vulnerability and Readiness for climate change for Middle Eastern countries, many of the world’s poorest countries are vulnerable to a crisis that was largely created by industrial countries and by the unsustainable living standards of the wealthiest nations.
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What does Ireland owe the world for its role in climate change?
May 11, 2023
The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative index gauges countries' vulnerability based on their exposure, sensitivity and ability to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change.
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10 countries at risk of climate disaster
March 20, 2023
Chad ranks as the world’s most climate-vulnerable country on the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index, which examines a country's exposure, sensitivity and capacity to adapt to the negative effects of climate change. Flooding in late 2022 affected more than 1 million people in the country while an economic crisis has led to widespread food insecurity.
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COMMENTARY AFRICA IN FOCUS Managing the compounding debt and climate crises
March 01, 2023
The second challenge is high climate risk exposure. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index, or ND-Gain, assesses a country’s susceptibility to the effects of climate changes like sea-level rise, disease, and drought, as well as its readiness to improve resilience and adapt to them. Currently, the average ND-Gain score for 183 countries globally is 49 (out of 100). But when looking at the performance of 47 SSA countries, only three achieved scores at or above the global average–Cabo Verde, Mauritius, and Seychelles.