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overnance
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anagement
logical and policy interventions. It also works to reduce
the uncertainty associated with the impacts of climate
variability on agriculture. Project partners are currently
developing information and decision support systems
that include long-term climate and agricultural impact
information, continuous monitoring of climate and
vegetation, and seasonal climate forecasts.
3
Innovative weather risk transfer solutions have also
been developed. This includes index insurance, which
provides a way to minimize the livelihood impacts of
‘bad years’ associated with extreme events. In the future,
it may also be possible to combine index insurance
with climate forecast information, providing insurance
against the uncertainty of the forecast. At the same
time, drought index insurance allows relief agencies
to respond quickly as droughts unfold, thus avoiding
catastrophes that may otherwise destroy livelihoods and
force farmers into poverty traps.
4
Obstacles to effective climate risk management
Unfortunately, while there are examples of successful
climate risk management in different sectors, a number
of obstacles still stand in the way of widespread imple-
mentation. Indeed, despite increased interest in climate
evidenced by: the significant resources invested in
climate-related research, forecasting, and assessment;
rapid developments in climate policy; and increasing
support for disaster risk reduction and climate-smart
development, the practice of climate risk management
as described above is rare throughout the world today.
This leaves communities exposed to a great deal of
climate-related risk.
This void is evidenced by the very few development
organizations that employ climate knowledge, infor-
Climate risk management
Put simply, climate risk management is the process of climate-
informed decision making. It involves the use of strategies
that reduce uncertainty through the systematic use of climate
information. Certain strategies may involve the deployment of
climate-informed technologies and the implementation of climate-
informed policy interventions that transfer some, or part of, the
risk away from vulnerable populations. Climate risk management
addresses the full range of variability, balancing protection against
climate-related hazards with effort to capitalize on opportunity. In
this way, climate risk management is an effective way to protect and
improve international development.
The fact that climate risk management is effective, however,
doesn’t make it easy. Indeed, because the process is inherently
interdisciplinary, it requires a detailed understanding of complex
context-specific interactions between physical, natural and social
systems. It also involves collaboration among experts who must
work together on cross-disciplinary problems. Though developing
the proper strategies is a complicated task, climate risk management
can be applied to any sector and on scales that range from local to
global, and from near- to long-term.
While the science of climate risk management is still in its infancy,
strategies exist in every sector. For instance, an effort to address
deepening drought in Western Australia created a constructive
engagement between water managers and climate scientists that
improved practice in both fields and contributed to better policy.
1
In the realm of public health, a group of partners developed an
integrated malaria epidemic early warning and response system that
is being implemented in conjunction with the Roll Back Malaria
Campaign. The system includes seasonal forecasts, climate moni-
toring, vulnerability assessments, case surveillance, and response
planning.
2
Similarly, a project in the Southern Cone of South America
manages agriculture related climate risk through a series of techno-
Discussing index insurance with farmers in Adi Ha, Ethiopia
Floods in 2007 caused a number of Kenya’s key bridges and roads to
wash away, making transportation a nightmare for commuters, students
and humanitarian agencies attempting to deliver relief supplies
Image: Dan Osgood/IRI
Image: Anthony Mwangi/Kenya Red Cross