Interconnected Disaster Risks Report 2023

• A new report ‘Interconnected Disaster Risks Report 2023’ was recently published by United Nations University — Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).
  • Environmental tipping points are critical thresholds in the Earth’s systems beyond which abrupt and often irreversible changes occur, leading to profound and sometimes catastrophic shifts in ecosystems, climate patterns and the overall environment.
• The report looks at six environmental tipping points —
  • accelerating extinctions,
  • groundwater depletion,
  • mountain glacier melting,
  • sp nace debris,
  • unbearable heat and
  • an uninsurable future.
• It has also found that 27 of the world’s 31 major aquifers are depleting faster than they can be replenished.
• India is close to reaching its groundwater depletion tipping point.
• India is the world’s largest user of groundwater, exceeding the use of the United States and China combined.
• The north-western region of India serves as the breadbasket for the nation’s growing 1.4 billion people, with the states of Punjab and Haryana producing 50% of the country’s rice supply and 85% of its wheat stocks.
  • However, 78% of wells in Punjab are considered overexploited, and the north-western region as a whole is predicted to experience critically low groundwater availability by 2025.
• The report offers a new framework that categorizes risk mitigation solutions into four types based on their approach-
  • Avoid (preventing risk),
  • Adapt (dealing with risk),
  • Delay (slowing risk progression), and
  • Transform (system overhaul).

ABOUT UNU-EHS

• The United Nations University (UNU) is the academic arm of the United Nations and acts as a global think tank.
• The mission of the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) is to carry out cutting edge research on risks and adaptation related to environmental hazards and global change.
• The institute is based in Bonn, Germany.