Countries in the Asia Pacific region are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate-related events even though, historically, they have contributed the least to the climate crisis. The diversity of climate-related risks and hazards they face underscores the critical need for Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) instruments which can help reduce the economic and human cost of disasters.
Despite countries’ high vulnerability to weather- and climate-related disasters most disaster response finance across the Asia Pacific region is arranged and provided post-disaster, typically using budget reallocations, emergency borrowing and humanitarian aid.
There is, however, a wide range of instruments that could potentially be arranged in advance of a shock. WFP is one of the leading UN agencies and a key partner to governments globally, promoting the use of CDRFI to respond before, during and after weather- and climate-related disasters with a focus on getting risk finance out to the people who need it most. To gain a deeper understanding of the role of CDRFI in the Asia-Pacific region, WFP undertook a study to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of various macro-level instruments to support government disaster response strategies. This factsheet summarises the key findings and recommendations of the study.