Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change and Natural Disasters for Better Quality Growth

Climate change is one of the greatest development challenges. The costs of environmental neglect have long been known, but growing scientific evidence indicates how global warming is linked to greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. The impact of global warming is most visible in the rising threat of climate-related natural disasters. Disaster risk is the result of the probability of occurrence of hazardous events as well as the impacts should these events occur. Policy responses need to take into account the increasingly anthropogenic nature of hazardous events, with human actions influencing not only exposure and vulnerability but also the hazards themselves through high-carbon activities. In response, human actions in climate mitigation and adaptation and disaster prevention are needed to reduce the costs of climate change to avoid major catastrophes. Prevention strategies and disaster risk reduction need to be prioritized. Innovations in clean energy and energy efficiency are increasingly required. Opportunities exist for growth and environmental policies to support and reinforce each other. But there is a great divide between the knowledge on climate change, climate-related disasters, and disaster science on the one side, and the actions and policies on these issues on the other. Development work needs to bridge the gap with smart actions and policies that take into account political economy considerations.