Chapter 01 · Climate & transitionClimate & Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Climate vulnerability
Definition
In the IPCC framework, vulnerability is the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected, encompassing sensitivity to harm and the capacity (or lack of capacity) to cope and adapt. Together with hazard and exposure, it is one of the three determinants of climate risk.
References
IPCC 2022 definition; hazard × exposure × vulnerability risk framing
evolution of the concept between IPCC assessment cycles
Overview
What it means
Two communities facing the same hazard can experience very different risk because their underlying vulnerability differs.
How it is used
Vulnerability assessments combine socioeconomic, institutional and biophysical indicators to target adaptation; climate vulnerability indices operationalise the concept for ranking places or populations.
Why it matters
It shifts climate policy from hazards alone to the social conditions that turn hazards into disasters, aligning with UNDRR disaster-risk framing.