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How a smoked fish tradition sustains an ethnic group in Bhutan
December 02, 2024
Bhutan faces significant challenges related to climate change, including a lack of disaster risk knowledge, preparedness and effective communication systems. According to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), as of 2022, Bhutan is the 34th most vulnerable country and the 67th most ready country. It means that the country is on the road to responding effectively to climate change, but the adaptation needs and urgency to act are greater.
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Securing Climate and SDG Financing is Only Half the Battle
November 26, 2024
For climate change: Allocations were based on a country’s population, climate vulnerability, and readiness for adaptation as indicated by the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) index. ND-GAIN index scores range from 0 to 100, with higher values representing greater readiness and lower vulnerability of a country. We divided the group’s average ND-GAIN score by each country’s score to obtain an adjustment coefficient for each country (so that if a country’s ND-GAIN score were lower than the average, implying greater needs, they would get more finance, and vice versa). Each country’s adjustment coefficient was then multiplied by its population. New finance was then distributed based on each country’s climate-adjusted population as a share of the whole.
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For the first time ever, Taliban reps were invited to the big U.N. climate conference
November 22, 2024
In 2019, Afghanistan was ranked sixth among countries most affected by climate impacts on the Global Climate Risk Index. And it is among the least prepared to cope with the crisis according to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index.
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A climate loss and damage fund that works
September 09, 2024
A new United Nations climate instrument to support the most vulnerable countries will make its mark if it follows six key recommendations. ND-GAIN scores used to determine vulnerability, along with a few other indicies.
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Climate Vulnerability in Libya: Building Resilience Through Local Empowerment
June 06, 2024
A vast, arid, oil-dependent country of nearly 7 million people, Libya is acutely exposed to the deleterious effects of climate change. These problems include soaring temperatures, declining rainfall, rising sea levels, extended droughts, and sand and dust storms of increasing frequency, duration, and intensity, to name a few. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Country Index ranks Libya 126 of 182 states, just after Iraq, in the lower-middle tier denoting most vulnerable countries.
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Country Brief - The global food and economic crisis’ impact on food system resilience: Bangladesh
May 14, 2024
Due to a combination of political, geographic, and social factors, Bangladesh is recognized as highly vulnerable to climate change impacts and is ranked 163rd out of 185 countries in the 2021 ND-GAIN Index.
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Caribbean Food Systems Are Among The Most Climate Vulnerable Globally
February 29, 2024
According to the latest update from the University of Notre Dame's Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) Country Index, Caribbean food systems are among the most climate vulnerable in the world.
Of the 13 nations from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that were included in ND-GAIN's annual assessment of 189 countries, only two— Trinidad & Tobago (#73 of 189 countries) and Suriname (#85)— ranked in the upper 50th percentile worldwide, with respect to the climate vulnerability of their food systems.
Saint Kitts & Nevis and Antigua & Barbuda were the only upper-middle income countries in the bottom 10% of the ranking, assuming positions 176 and 177 respectively on the 189-country scale.
To provide context, Somalia, identified as the most climate vulnerable country by ND-GAIN, ranked 182nd, while Niger, deemed the world's most climate vulnerable food system by ND-GAIN, held the 189th position in the ranking.
Other CARICOM countries included in the 189-country assessment were Jamaica (#101 out of 189), Belize (#102), Barbados (#109), Bahamas (#116), Guyana (#122), Dominica (#125), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (#130), Grenada (#131), and Saint Lucia (#139).
The University of Notre Dame analyzed criteria such as food production, food demand, nutrition, and rural population. Selected indicators included population growth projections, dependency on food imports, rural population statistics, agricultural capacity, and rates of child malnutrition. -
OPINION The World May Be Entering a Much Bloodier Era
February 28, 2024
Climate researchers have long projected that the Sahel would be one of the regions most threatened by the impacts of warming. The Institute for Economics and Peace has identified the Sahel as one of its ecological threat hot spots, and according to Notre Dame’s Global Adaptation Initiative’s index, all six countries in the region rank among the least prepared places in the world.
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Large Ocean States: Partnering towards a resilient future
February 27, 2024
Of the 20 countries with the highest average annual disaster losses scaled by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), eight are Pacific Islands. Of the 22 most vulnerable countries in the world according to the ND-Gain, six are Pacific Islands. Pacific-wide, average annual temperatures have increased at an average rate of 0.18°C per decade since 1961, with the expectation and recent experience that seasons are changing and that hazards are becoming more frequent and intense.