Strengthening Disaster Risk Management in Climate Resilience Action

Climate change and disasters are inextricably linked. Climate change poses an elevated threat to disaster risks, exacerbating the frequency and intensity of such events. It is anticipated that occurrences of disasters will continue to increase as a consequence of climate change. This phenomenon effects communities, ecosystems and  assets that are already vulnerable, rendering them even more susceptible to the impacts of a changing climate. COVID-19 brought into sharp focus awareness and discussion about the interconnectedness of human health, environmental degradation, and climate change. The pandemic also revealed how risks and challenges that appear to be confined to a specific context or region can reverberate across the globe, and how disasters of different types can co-occur and exacerbate one another.

This learning review draws on the Climate Investment Funds’ (CIF) experience under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) and Technical Assistance Facility and demonstrates how CIF has been contributing to crucially important disaster risk management (DRM) across an extensive portfolio of 28 projects in 16 countries and three regions. It also highlights opportunities and entry points for advancing the DRM agenda through climate resilience action and makes the case for integrated approaches to address interconnected challenges.