Climate change poses a profound threat to the densely populated coastal regions of South Asia, where agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries underpin household economies. This consolidated Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) assessment integrates findings from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to present a regional perspective on vulnerability across coastal and deltaic systems.

The analysis followed the IPCC framework that defined vulnerability as a function of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Each national study applied the same methodology to ensure comparability. Results demonstrated that Bangladesh and India’s Sundarban zones experienced the highest composite vulnerability, with LVI-IPCC scores of 0.92 and 0.90 respectively. The coastal belt of Pakistan recorded 0.79, while the Jaffna Peninsula in Sri Lanka scored 0.76. The consistent pattern across all four cases revealed water as the central axis of risk- scarcity, salinity, and contamination influence food systems, health conditions, and livelihood stability.

In Bangladesh, exposure to recurrent cyclones and saline flooding overwhelmed adaptation capacity. India faced similar pressures in the Sundarban, where embankment failures and saline intrusion threaten paddy cultivation and aquaculture. The coastal regions of Pakistan endured extreme aridity and declining freshwater inflow, producing widespread livelihood stress. In Sri Lanka, over-extraction of groundwater and saltwater intrusion had jeopardised the limestone aquifer upon which domestic and agricultural needs depend.

Common drivers of sensitivity included limited safe drinking water, declining soil fertility, high disease incidence, and inadequate food diversity. Adaptive capacity remained weak where poverty, gender inequities, and low institutional outreach persisted. Strengthening local institutions, expanding access to technology, and diversifying income sources were necessary to reduce vulnerability.