Climate risk country profile

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CLIMATE RISK COUNTRY PROFILE: UZBEKISTAN
Green, Inclusive and Resilient Recovery
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has led to unprecedented adverse social and economic impacts. 
Further, the pandemic has demonstrated the compounding impacts of adding yet another shock on top of 
the multiple challenges that vulnerable populations already face in day-to-day life, with the potential to create 
devastating health, social, economic and environmental crises that can leave a deep, long-lasting mark. However, 
as governments take urgent action and lay the foundations for their financial, economic, and social recovery, they 
have a unique opportunity to create economies that are more sustainable, inclusive and resilient. Short and long-
term recovery efforts should prioritize investments that boost jobs and economic activity; have positive impacts on 
human, social and natural capital; protect biodiversity and ecosystems services; boost resilience; and advance the 
decarbonization of economies.
This document aims to succinctly summarize the climate risks faced by Uzbekistan. This includes rapid onset and 
long-term changes in key climate parameters, as well as impacts of these changes on communities, livelihoods and 
economies, many of which are already underway. This is a high-level synthesis of existing research and analyses, 
focusing on the geographic domain of Uzbekistan, therefore potentially excluding some international influences 
and localized impacts. The core data presented is sourced from the database sitting behind the World Bank 
Group’s 
Climate Change Knowledge Portal
(CCKP), 
incorporating climate projections from the Coupled 
Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). 
This document is primarily meant for WBG and ADB 
staff to inform their climate actions. The document also 
aims and to direct the reader to many useful sources 
of secondary data and research.
Due to a combination of political, geographic, and 
social factors, Uzbekistan is recognized as vulnerable 
to climate change impacts, ranked 83rd out of 
182 countries in the 2020 ND-GAIN Index
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The 
ND-GAIN Index ranks 182 countries using a score 
which calculates a country’s vulnerability to climate 
change and other global challenges as well as their 
readiness to improve resilience. The more vulnerable 
a country is the lower their score, while the more ready 
a country is to improve its resilience the higher it will 
be. Norway has the highest score and is ranked 1st. 
Figure 1
is a time-series plot of the ND-GAIN Index 
showing Uzbekistan’s progress.
Uzbekistan
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
Score
36
40
38
42
44
46
48
52
50
FIGURE 1 . 
The ND-GAIN Index summarizes a 
country’s vulnerability to climate change and 
other global challenges in combination with its 
readiness to improve resilience It aims to help 
businesses and the public sector better prioritize 
investments for a more efficient response to the 
immediate global challenges ahead
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University of Notre Dame (2019). Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative. URL: 
https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/

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