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Severe weather harming Filipino population more than any other country

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Man stood in middle of severely flood road in the Philippines

Severe weather poses a greater risk to people in the Philippines than in any other country, a new global report has found. More than two in five Filipinos (62%) said they, or someone they know, have experienced serious harm from severe weather in the past two years.

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More than two in five Filipinos (62%) said they, or someone they know, have experienced serious harm from severe weather in the past two years.

World Risk Poll shows high concern for climate and severe weather risks in the Philippines

The findings come from the second edition of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll, powered by Gallup, which surveyed more than 125,000 people across 121 countries.

At 62%, reported harm from severe weather in the Philippines was found to be more than double the 27% global average. Meanwhile, over two thirds (67%) of those polled in the Philippines said they are ‘very worried’ severe weather could cause them serious harm. Only 8% were not worried, with 25% feeling ‘somewhat worried’.

The data, which was collected in 2021, also found that more than two thirds of respondents in the Philippines (70%) said climate change was a ‘very serious threat’ to their country. This is up from 57% in the 2019 World Risk Poll, and is also significantly higher than the 2021 global average of 41%.

The Philippines, which is made up of more than 7,500 islands, experiences an average of 20 typhoons each year. A 2019 report by the Institute for Economics and Peace also named the Philippines as the country most at risk from climate change. This is reflected in the findings of the 2021 World Risk Poll, which found that climate change was the risk Filipino people were most likely to name as the biggest threat to their safety. Globally, the Philippines is also the nation most worried about risk to their safety from natural hazards.

For residents of the Philippines, the latest World Risk Poll shows that they live in fear of the devastating effects of climate change. This is not surprising, given the frequency of climate-related incidents which take place in the country. However, the results should not be ignored.

Dr. Sarah Cumbers, Former Director of Evidence and Insight, Lloyd's Register Foundation

Download a copy of the report here.  Country-specific data snapshots for all other countries in the Poll are also available, including for The Philippines.

Funding is available from Lloyd’s Register Foundation for further research and interventions using World Risk Poll data to reduce risk. Click here for more information.

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