Ahmedabad has been ranked the least climate-resilient major city among 72 cities assessed in a global climate-risk study, with extreme heat and limited adaptation capacity contributing to its high residual risk.
The assessment was carried out by geospatial AI company AlphaGeo through its Climate Risk & Resilience Index (CRRI). The findings were also reported by The New York Times. The study uses two broad measures: a city’s underlying exposure to climate hazards and the amount of risk that remains after existing adaptation efforts are taken into account.
Ahmedabad recorded a resilience-adjusted risk (RAJ) score of 41, the highest in the assessment. AlphaGeo’s analysis covers hazards including flooding, heat stress, drought, wildfires and hurricane winds. The company’s scores are based on data from 2025.
Heat exposure weighs heavily on Ahmedabad
The ranking places Ahmedabad within a wider group of South Asian cities facing high climate exposure. Hyderabad in Pakistan also recorded a RAJ score of 41, followed by Multan at 38, Dhaka at 36, and Kolkata and Lahore at 35. AlphaGeo found that these cities combine significant physical exposure with adaptation levels that remain relatively limited compared with the risks they face.
For Ahmedabad, heat is a major component of the city’s climate risk profile. The assessment suggests that adaptation efforts have reduced some of the underlying exposure, but a substantial level of risk remains.
The study also cautions that the figures represent city-level averages. Climate vulnerability can vary significantly between neighbourhoods within the same city.
Ahmedabad has already invested in heat preparedness
The ranking comes against the backdrop of Ahmedabad’s long-running efforts to prepare for extreme heat.
Following the deadly 2010 heatwave, Ahmedabad became one of the early Indian cities to establish a dedicated Heat Action Plan, bringing together measures aimed at reducing heat-related health risks.
The city has since used measures such as heat alerts, public-health communication and other preparedness initiatives. However, AlphaGeo’s assessment indicates that having adaptation measures in place does not necessarily eliminate a city’s underlying exposure to climate hazards.
A wider South Asian warning
Ahmedabad’s position is part of a broader regional pattern. The six highest-RAJ cities in AlphaGeo’s assessment are all in South Asia, with Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Multan, Dhaka, Kolkata and Lahore occupying the top six positions on the high-risk side of the ranking.
The study points to a combination of geography, physical exposure and differences in adaptation investment as important factors behind the variation between cities.
This distinction is significant because cities with similar levels of physical exposure can have very different residual-risk scores depending on how effectively they have invested in adaptation.
Chicago tops the resilience ranking
At the opposite end of the ranking, Chicago recorded a RAJ score of 8, making it the most climate-resilient major city in the assessment.
The city benefits from relatively low exposure to some major climate hazards as well as long-term investment in infrastructure and adaptation. Other cities near the top included Addis Ababa (10), Melbourne (11), Barcelona (11), Buenos Aires (12), Paris (12), Nairobi (13) and London (15).
China shows stronger adaptation efficiency
The analysis also highlighted several Chinese cities for the extent to which adaptation measures have reduced their physical climate risk.
Beijing, Tianjin and Shenzhen recorded adaptation rates above 46%, while Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan also crossed the 46% mark. AlphaGeo uses the adaptation rate to measure the proportion of physical risk that existing adaptation measures are estimated to offset.
What the ranking means for Ahmedabad
The assessment does not suggest that Ahmedabad has no climate-preparedness measures. Instead, it highlights the gap between the hazards the city faces and the extent to which current measures reduce that risk.
For a rapidly expanding city, the challenge extends beyond emergency responses to extreme weather. Urban infrastructure, drainage, heat management and long-term planning will determine how effectively Ahmedabad can cope with increasing climate pressures.
The AlphaGeo findings therefore put the focus not simply on whether a city has a climate plan, but on how much measurable risk its policies and investments are actually able to reduce.
Also Read: Ahmedabad’s Heat Action Plan: From 2010 Tragedy To A Model For Europe
