Who is at high risk from climate hazards? A new map to explore exposure and vulnerability Minh Cong NguyenChristoph LaknerBen BrunckhorstNisan GorguluEsther NaikalStéphane Hallegatte October 15, 2026 This page in: English Español

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/who-is-at-high-risk-from-climate-hazards--a-new-map-to-explore-e In June 2026, the World Bank Group introduced a new Scorecard indicator that counts the people most at risk from climate hazards. Our recent research shows that, under current climate conditions, more than half of the world's population — over 4.5 billion people — are likely to face at least one major flood, drought, heatwave, or cyclone within their lifetime. Combining these exposure estimates with household vulnerability data, we estimate that about 1.2 billion people in countries with available data are at high risk, rising to 1.5 billion—nearly one in five people—when extrapolated to the global population. What does this mean? It means that these people live in harm's way and would struggle to recover because they are poor, lack basic services, or have no safety net to fall back on.