Climate Vulnerability Index

The Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) is a tool used to assess how susceptible a region, system, or community is to the impacts of climate change. It typically evaluates vulnerability by analyzing three key dimensions: exposure to climate hazards (such as extreme heat or sea-level rise), sensitivity of the system or population to those hazards, and adaptive capacity, the ability to respond, adjust, or recover (IPCC, 2007).The "exposure–sensitivity–adaptive capacity" framework, formalized in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4, 2007), has underpinned many climate assessments and indices over the past two decades. However, this framing has since been refined in the IPCC’s evolving understanding of climate risk. Starting with the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5, 2014) and further emphasized in the Sixth (AR6, 2023), the IPCC introduced a more integrated climate risk framework, which defines risk as the interaction between hazards, exposure, and vulnerability, with vulnerability itself referring to the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected, encompassing both sensitivity and limitations in coping and adaptation capacities.As such, while the CVI remains a useful analytical tool, its conceptual basis must be critically assessed and, where appropriate, adapted to align with this more current and holistic understanding of climate risk and vulnerability.