🌪️ Climate Vulnerability in Georgia

Climate Vulnerability in Georgia

The climate vulnerability indicator is based on the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) Country Index, which measures both a country's exposure to climate risks and its capacity to adapt to climate change. With an ND-GAIN score of 0.42 (on a scale from 0 to 1) and a safety score of 58/100, Georgia reflects the typical profile of an emerging economy in a climatically sensitive region: exposed to real physical risks with limited institutional and financial adaptation capacity.

What the ND-GAIN Index Measures

The ND-GAIN Country Index combines two dimensions. Vulnerability covers six sectors: food security, water availability, public health, ecosystem stability, urban infrastructure and human capital. Readiness measures economic, governance and social capacity to mobilise adaptation resources. A score of 0.42 means: Georgia is in the lower middle range — more vulnerable than Western Europe, but more resilient than much of Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.

Physical Climate Risks: Georgia's Specific Situation

Georgia's climate vulnerability is shaped by its geographical diversity:

• Glacial retreat in the Caucasus: The Greater Caucasus glaciers — the water source for Georgia's most important rivers including the Mtkvari/Kura and Alazani — are visibly retreating. Glacial loss threatens medium-term drinking water security, hydroelectric power generation and agricultural irrigation in dry years.
• Extreme weather: Increased frequency and intensity of flash floods, severe storms and landslides in the mountain regions. Tbilisi itself experienced a catastrophic flash flood in June 2015 in which 19 people died and the zoo flooded; a similar event in May 2024 killed 3 people and caused significant infrastructure damage.
• Drought in eastern Georgia: Kakheti — the main wine-growing region — is experiencing longer and more intense dry periods in summer. Agricultural yields are under increasing pressure.
• Black Sea coast (Batumi): Increasing coastal erosion, storm events and irregular precipitation patterns.
• Urban heat: Tbilisi's summer temperatures regularly exceed 35°C; urban heat island effects are intensifying. Cooling infrastructure in older residential buildings is largely absent.

Adaptation Capacity: Progress and Weaknesses

Georgia has established a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (2017, updated) and participates in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In practice, however, there are significant gaps between policy papers and implementation: early warning systems for floods and landslides are only partially operational; building codes have not yet adapted to the increased flood risk; agricultural knowledge transfer for climate-adapted farming methods is slow.

Progress: EU funding channelled through the Eastern Partnership programme is being invested in reforestation, flood protection infrastructure and water management. These investments are meaningful — but their scope relative to the scale of the challenge remains limited.

What Expats Should Know

For everyday life the most relevant climate risks are: flash floods (especially Tbilisi in May–June; know evacuation routes from river valleys and lower-lying areas); summer heat (air conditioning essential in Tbilisi from June to August); outdoor activities in the mountains (check weather reports before hikes; glacial meltwater can cause sudden river level rises). Batumi on the Black Sea coast receives enormous rainfall — waterproof clothing mandatory year-round.

Summary: A score of 58/100 and an ND-GAIN value of 0.42 place Georgia in a country group that takes climate change seriously but has limited ability to respond to it quickly. For expats the physical risks are real — mainly storms and floods — but manageable with appropriate preparation and awareness.

Sources

• Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) – Country Index

This article was created on April 14, 2026