The UN General Assembly has officially launched a new data-driven vulnerability index.
It incorporates indicators linked to a state's structural vulnerabilities and lack of economic, environmental and social resilience.
It would help small island states and developing nations gain access to low-interest financing.
The "Multidimensional Vulnerability Index" (MVI) is set to act as a complement to GDP and other development metrics.
Since the 1990s, small island developing states (SIDS) that are not poor enough in terms of GDP per capita to access low-interest development financing.