Impacts of climate change on the Russian economy: Ranking of regions by adaptation needs

Climate change makes Russia warming faster than global average that is associated with the significant potential damage for its population and economy. To minimize this damage, the system of adaptation measures is needed. Taking into consideration the diversity of climate and economic conditions across the Russian territory and given the scarcity of resources for implementing such measures, their prioritization is necessary, that means revealing of those regions which face the highest level of climate change-related risks. This study proposes the rating of the Russian regions by the level of physical risks of climate change and the need for adapting to them. Rating is built with the use of the analytical framework "hazard - exposure - vulnerability" and is based on ranging the Russian regions by each of these components of climate risk. Rating is composed for four crucial climate-change related hazards: the impact of heat waves on the health of urban population, the impact of droughts on agriculture, rising frequency of forest fires, and melting permafrost. The results of the study are presented separately for regional and federal level of policy and provide the objective base for the prioritization of adaptation measures funding.