Built-up area and population density: Two Essential Societal Variables to address climate hazard impact

Highlights • This paper introduces two essential societal variables (ESV) – global built-up area and global population density.• The two ESVs are the building blocks for quantifying the human societal system as they measure the human presence on Earth.• The two ESVs complement the essential climate variables in modelling climate impact on societies.• The two ESVs are already used in disaster early warning systems, within disaster risk models, in system of indicators and in crisis management.• The two ESVs are also tested for use in system of indicators used to measure progress towards the 2030 Development Agenda.

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