Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-9 (section)

=== 9.9.3 Observed Vulnerabilities of Human Settlements to Climate Risks ===

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Urban vulnerabilities and exposure to climate change are increasing ( ''medium to high confidence'' ) and are influenced by patterns of urban settlement and housing characteristics ( [[#Satterthwaite--2017|Satterthwaite, 2017]] ; [[#Godsmark--2019|Godsmark et al., 2019]] ; [[#Williams--2019a|Williams et al., 2019a]] ). About 70% of African cities are highly vulnerable to climate shocks of which small- and medium-sized towns and cities are more at risk (Verisk Maplecroft, 2018). Flooding was perceived as the most prominent water risk in 75% of 36 sampled cities across African sub-regions, while drought-related water scarcity was indicated as very important/important in 66.7% of cities ( [[#OECD--2021|OECD, 2021]] ). Almost one-third of African cities with populations of 300,000 or more are located in areas of high exposure to at least one natural hazard, including floods (11%) and droughts (20–25%) using natural hazard data for the period 1970s to early 2000s ( [[#Gu--2015|Gu et al., 2015]] ). The coastal cities of east, west and north Africa are particularly vulnerable to the effects of rising sea levels ( [[#Abutaleb--2018|Abutaleb et al., 2018]] ; [[#IPCC--2019a|IPCC, 2019a]] ). From 2000–2015, the proportion of people exposed to floods increased for most African countries, with Mozambique and multiple countries in West Africa estimated to have had the proportion of their populations exposed to flooding increase more than 50% ( [[#Tellman--2021|Tellman et al., 2021]] ).

Globally, sub-Saharan Africa has the largest population living in extreme poverty that are exposed to high flood risk (~71 million people or 55% of global total) ( [[#Rentschler--2020|Rentschler and Salhab, 2020]] ). Poverty is a significant factor of flood-induced displacement in Africa, where even small flood exposure can lead to high numbers being displaced ( [[#Kakinuma--2020|Kakinuma et al., 2020]] ). Africa’s large population of urban poor and marginalised groups and informal sector workers, further contribute to high vulnerability to extreme weather and climate change in many settlements ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Adelekan--2015|Adelekan and Fregene, 2015]] ; [[#IPCC--2019a|IPCC, 2019a]] ; UNDP, 2019).

Other non-climatic stressors which exacerbate vulnerabilities, especially in urban areas, include poor socioeconomic development, weak municipal governance, poor resource and institutional capacities, together with multi-dimensional, location-specific inequalities ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Dodman--2017|Dodman et al., 2017]] ; [[#Satterthwaite--2017|Satterthwaite, 2017]] ).

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