Climate Vulnerabilities of Landlocked Developing Countries

The 32 landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) face a unique set of vulnerabilities to climate change due to their geographic circumstances, structural economic challenges, and limited mitigation and adaptation capacities.

UNIQUE GEOGRAPHIC CIRCUMSTANCES

LLDCs are disproportionately situated in internal drylands, where desertification and heat stress are worsening, and mountainous regions especially exposed to melting glaciers, landslides and flash floods.

With roughly 12 per cent of the world’s land surface, LLDCs suffered more than 20 per cent of the total number of droughts and landslides between 2012 and 2023. And despite representing just 7 per cent of the world’s population, LLDCs accounted for about 18 per cent of the globally affected population by droughts and landslides over this period.

LLDCs depend on complex transit routes for access to international markets. When these routes are undermined by disasters and extreme weather events, LLDCs’ access to global markets is severed, jeopardizing their trade and competitiveness.

STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SENSITIVITIES

In LLDCs, 55 per cent of the population is employed in the agriculture sector, significantly higher than the global average of 25 per cent. This sector is severely vulnerable to droughts, flooding and desertification.

LLDCs are highly reliant upon hydropower, which is vulnerable to droughts and flooding. Hydropower provides roughly 44 per cent of LLDCs’ electricity compared to 15 per cent for the rest of the world.

In 2023, 51 per cent of the population in LLDCs faced moderate or severe food insecurity, a substantial increase from 43 per cent in 2014. In 2020-2022, 27 LLDCs were net importers of cereals and exposed to heightened risks of global price fluctuations and potential disruptions in international supply chains.

LIMITED CAPACITIES FOR MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION

LLDCs face significant challenges in addressing climate-related issues due to constrained fiscal capacities, reliance on undiversified, commodity-dependent economies, and complex governance hurdles. A third of LLDCs were in fragile or conflict-affected situations in 2024.

Recognizing the unique climate vulnerabilities of LLDCs and their serious capacity constraints, the Progamme of Action for LLDCs for the Decade 2024-2034 structures actions and support in the areas of climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, climate finance, resilient infrastructure development, loss and damage, and biodiversity loss.

Effectively implementing the Programme of Action for LLDCs will require reinvigorated, systematic and sustained partnerships. The formation of the LLDCs as a recognized group of highly vulnerable countries in the relevant processes and negotiations under the UNFCCC is the key first step to providing a structured and institutional framework for such partnerships to address the LLDCs’ vulnerabilities and specific needs.

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