The Oxford Dictionary defines vulnerability as ‘the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally’. A vulnerable person or entity can be physically or morally harmed or injured.
For the American Red Cross, vulnerability is ‘the degree to which a population, individual or organization is unable to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impacts of disasters’.
The degree of vulnerability depends on various physical, emotional, economic, social, and political factors. These factors affect the ability to resist and address risks and adverse situations, and the ability to recover.
Environmental vulnerability refers to a reduced degree of resistance of the environment, a system, or a part of the system to address adverse effects. These can be natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or cyclones. Or, they can be anthropocentric, including global warming or deforestation.
The South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and the United Nations Environment Programme developed the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) to monitor and measure processes that affect countries’ sustainable development. The goal is to identify and address the problems that affect the sustainability of a region.
In any case, vulnerability is a relative and dynamic concept that is inversely related to social resilience and adaptation