The Climate Risk Index (CRI), published since 2006, is one of the longest running annual climate impact-related indices. The CRI analyses climate-related extreme weather events’ degree of effect on countries. In doing so, it measures the consequences of realised risks on countries.

This backward-looking  index ranks countries by their economic and human impacts (fatalities as well as affected, injured, and homeless) with the most affected country ranked highest.

The CRI visualises such events’ degree of effect at two years before the index’s publication and over the preceding 30 years. The index contextualises international climate policy debates and processes with a view to the climate risk countries are facing. It simplifies the aggregation and understanding of climate-related extreme weather events’ impacts across different regions and time periods. The most strongly affected countries rank highest and should view the CRI results as a warning sign that they are at risk of frequent events or rare and unusual extreme events.