Dominica has been ranked number one in countries most affected by extreme weather events between 1993 and 2022 by the Climate Risk Index, 2025 published by Germanwatch, an independent development, environmental, and human rights organization based in Bonn and Berlin.
The ranking highlights Dominica’s vulnerability to climate change.
“The climate crisis is increasingly becoming a global security risk and must be addressed with bold multilateral actions,” Laura Schaefer, Head of Division for International Climate Policy at Germanwatch said in a statement.
“There are increasing signs that we are entering a critical and unpredictable phase of the climate crisis, which will further aggravate conflicts, destabilize societies, and negatively affect human security worldwide.”
Dominica, which was described as “one of the more hurricane-prone countries in the Caribbean” by the index, gained the top spot because of huge economic losses as well as relative fatalities and people affected by storms in the 30-year-period studied by Germanwatch.
During the period, the island was regularly affected by tropical cyclones including Hurricane Debby in 2000, Hurricane Omar in 2008, Tropical Storm Erika in 2016, and Hurricane Maria in 2017. The latter devastated Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane with winds exceeding 277 km/h. The government later confirmed the death of 31 people and 37 missing, which is high because of the island’s small population.
Maria caused damage of up to $1.8 billion, which is 270% of Dominica’s GDP.
China ranked second on the index because significant parts of its huge population have been killed or otherwise affected by frequent heat waves, typhoons, and flooding. The 2016 floods killed more than 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
Honduras, third on the index, felt the effects of extreme weather particularly hard as one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch killed more than 14,000 people and destroyed 70% of crops and infrastructure.
According to the 58-page index, in the 30-year period of study, almost 800,000 people worldwide were killed in more than 9,400 weather events which included storms, floods, droughts, heat waves, and wildfires.
The economic damage caused by these weather events totaled nearly $4.2 trillion (€4.07 trillion), a value that has been adjusted to inflation.
Analysts believe that based on the report of the index, the issue of climate change cannot be ignored.
“In this moment of poly-crisis, decision-makers attending the Munich Security Conference simply have to address climate change,” Travis Brubaker, Senior Policy Advisor on US Climate Foreign Policy said.
“There’s war and pressing economic and political matters. Still, it’s wrong to ignore climate change, as climate impacts affect all these global problems. Accelerating ambitious climate action also strengthens global security in three ways:
mitigating climate change minimizes the cause of threat multipliers, fosters multilateral collaboration, and helps meet expectations of emerging economies.”
Click link below to read the entire index
https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/Climate%20Risk%20Index%202025.pdf
I never experienced Hurricane Debbie or Hurricane Omar and I have lived on Dominica for 31 years. This is the kind of disinformation and obtuse reporting that messes with reality and keeps the anxiety ball rolling.
Hurricane Skerrit is an extreme we have yet to put behind us.
If true, then the reported negative population growth might not be such a bad trend after all.
This is definitely not the type of lottery or number one ranking any country wants to attain. Is the Creator or as some would prefer, “mother nature” trying to tell us (inhabitants and expats of the Nature Isle) something about getting our lives and houses in order?
All I can ask at this point is: Why us, out of all the countries in this world???
And yet they can still find room in their hearts to be nasty and politically tribal to each other on that little rock, while their unconscionable government can still find space to be corrupt and fraudulent while enriching themselves on the backs of the poor populace, with climate change financing and CBI passport selling.
Finally, we are #1 in something globally, unfortunately, the wrong thing. Some say it’s because of the country’s geographical location. Others posit the reason that the country is cursed because of the devilish wrongdoings of Lying Roosevelt and his worshippers.
To mitigate against the lost of lives and properties our building code must be promptly and considerably improved. More trees should be planted, better drainage be built, clearing of waterways, shoring up of vulnerable ridges and slopes.
We cannot prevent these natural phenomena from steering clear of our country but we can substantially lessen their impact. Having said that, we need a proactive, visionary, caring government that puts people first. We don’t need one that is completely preoccupied with material gain.