In world of extreme weather, plan financial inclusion for the weakest

Poor households are the most vulnerable in extreme weather. Women bear a disproportionate burden as they source scarce water and work in high temperatures

Brown slopes greeting winter tourists in the Himalayas are the latest in a series of headlines on climate change. The year 2023 was the world’s warmest on record. For India it was the second-warmest after 2016, with monsoon rainfall hitting a five-year low. This change hasn’t happened overnight. Research by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water found startling numbers: 2005 had 140 floods, a record, in 69 districts. The number of affected districts rose to 151 in 2019. As much as 80 per cent of India lives in districts vulnerable to extreme climate events; a third of the districts