Vulnerability is a component of risk, but also an important focus independently. Vulnerability in this report is defined as the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. Vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt . Over the past several decades, approaches to analysing and assessing vulnerability have evolved. An early emphasis on top-down, biophysical evaluation of vulnerability included and often started with exposure to climate hazards in assessing vulnerability. From this starting point, attention to bottom-up, social and contextual determinants of vulnerability, which often differ, has emerged, although this approach is incompletely applied or integrated across contexts . Vulnerability is now widely understood to differ within communities and across societies, also changing through time (Jurgilevich et al., 2017; Kienberger et al, 2013;
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report