The climate change impacts and responses index: quantifying disparities and guiding policies for collective resilience

ABSTRACTIdentifying climate change risks, vulnerabilities of exposed populations, and implemented responses to climate change are crucial for developing effective strategies to mitigate climate hazards. However, existing climate change assessment indexes still have some limitations, such as insufficient consideration of policy response, limited coverage of countries, and lack of a multidimensional perspective. In this study, we developed a novel climate change impacts and responses (CCIR) index that incorporates comprehensive information on climate risks, disease burden, and mitigation actions in response to climate risks and damage. To our best knowledge, the CCIR index is the first of its kind that explores variations in climate risks, impacts, and responses across countries to identify vulnerabilities and find more targeted solutions. A positive correlation was found between the CCIR index and national Gross Domestic Product per capita, indicating that wealthier countries might allocate more resources toward mitigating climate impacts. Moreover, countries with better climate education tended to have a lower carbon footprint, highlighting the importance of climate education. Furthermore, countries with lower risks of emerging infectious diseases were more likely to consume more renewable energy. The results highlight the value of using a multidimensional CCIR framework to analyze the interactions among socioeconomic factors, environmental policies, and climate change risks in 158 countries. This comprehensive approach provides actionable insights to mitigate climate impacts and improve national climate resilience. It also streamlines monitoring efforts and promotes joint climate action across international boundaries. By identifying climate risks and opportunities, the CCIR index can help policymakers design, refine, and implement adaptation policies and measures to respond to the impacts of climate change.Key policy highlights CCIR index evaluates countries’ climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.Wealthier countries invest more in mitigating climate change.Lower-income and coastal nations are vulnerable to climate change impacts.Countries at lower risk of emerging infectious diseases consume more renewable energy.Climate change education is associated with a lower carbon footprint.KEYWORDS: Climate risksclimate adaptationvulnerabilitygreenhouse gas emissiondisease burdenequity considerations Acronyms CART=Classification and Regression TreesCCPI=Change Performance IndexDALYs=Disability-Adjusted Life YearsDSR=Drivers-State-ResponsesEPI=Environmental Performance IndexFAO=Food and Agriculture OrganizationGBD=Global Burden of DiseaseGDIS=Geocoded DisastersGDP=Gross Domestic ProductGHG=Greenhouse GasIEA=International Energy AgencyIRENA=International Renewable Energy AgencyVIF=Variance Inflation FactorWOS=Web of ScienceCCIR=indicatorsAHO=Air Pollution-related Health OutcomeCCE=Climate Change EducationCCIR=Climate Change Impacts and ResponsesCCR=Climate Change RisksCTF=Climate FinanceEGU=Energy UseEID=Emerging Infectious DiseasesEXW=Extreme WeatherFRN=ForestationGGE=Greenhouse Gas EmissionsHIT=Health ImpactsHRI=Heat-related IllnessRCC=Responses to Climate ChangeREU=Renewable Energy UseDisclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Authors’ contributionsYi Xie: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Huimin Li: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Jingshu Liu: Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Lefei Han: Software, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Xiaoxi Zhang: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Xiaokui Guo: Validation, Writing – review & editing. Xiaonong Zhou: Validation, Writing – review & editing. Leshan Xiu: Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Hao Yin: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Kun Yin: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.Consent for publicationThe authors are willing to permit the Journal to publish the article.Supplementary MaterialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2023.2268577Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 22104090 and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai under Grant 22ZR1436200. H.Y. acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 71904104.