Climate Change and Himachal: A brief review of UNDP’s report on climate change

Introduction

“Himachal Pradesh Human Development Report 2025: Building the Future in a Climate-Impacted World” was published in October 2025. The report takes a look at the impact of climate change in Himachal Pradesh. In this article, we present a brief analysis of this report.

Current Trends

Temperature

Between 1901 and 2000, the average annual temperature in state has increased by about 1.5°C, with maximum temperatures increasing by 2.18°C. Parts of north, north-west, and western India are projected to warm rapidly in the future.

Weather patterns

The state is struggling with changing weather patterns and faces an increasing number of climate-induced disasters. Cloudburst incidents during the monsoon have also increased in frequency, with at least 16 occurrences recorded in 2019.

The state also suffers high economic losses due to the weather-induced disasters. In the last four years, the state has suffered a loss of around ₹46,000 crore in natural disasters. Around 1,700 lives have also been lost in the last five monsoon seasons.