District-Level Integrated Current Vulnerability Assessment for the State of Andhra Pradesh

Climate change is a serious threat to socioeconomic development all around the world. There is enough evidence that the earth’s climate is changing with global warming of 1.5°C rises in temperature according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which also describes vulnerability as “The degree to which a system is susceptible to,
or unable to cope with the adverse effects of climate change”. Thus climate change is adversely affecting both social aspects and the livelihood of all communities. As this risk may increase it is necessary to develop innovative approaches to effectively cope with climate-related risks. Assessing vulnerability is important as it provides information on the measures to
be taken to adapt to climate change. Hence, a vulnerability assessment is the first step in adaptation planning. The main objective of this study is to carry out a current climate Districtlevel vulnerability assessment for the State of Andhra Pradesh based on a set of common indicators. These indicators mainly comprise of Socio-economic& livelihood, Biophysical,
Institutional & Infrastructure. Using a Vulnerability Index, derived for each District in Andhra Pradesh, the study identifies and categorises the most vulnerable District in the State and the major drivers of their vulnerability. Thus this vulnerability assessment with a common methodological framework helps in prioritising investment for climate adaptation.