These days, it’s hard to escape reporting on the impact of climate change. contribute to extreme weather disastersincluding recent hurricanes in the United States. Aid agencies are more and more worried about the extensive damage.

A growing question like these disasters are getting worse in a warming world The question is how to finance the recovery, particularly in the poorest countries that have contributed the least to climate change.

I am a climatologist who researches disasters, and I work with disaster managers on solutions to address the growing risk of extreme events. Traditional sources of aid funding fall far short of meeting the needs of countries hit hard in recent years. Groups are developing more effective approaches, in some cases providing help before damage occurs.

Countries typically rely on several means to send money and aid to other countries in need of disaster assistance. They may send direct government-to-government aid, contribute to aid coordinated by the United Nations, or support the response efforts of groups such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

However, these efforts are almost never enough. In 2023, the amount of humanitarian funding through the UN was approximately $22 billion. THE United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs It is estimated that countries hit hard by disasters Needs around $57 billion in UN humanitarian aid to cover resources such as emergency food aid and clean water. This does not include costs directly borne by residents and their governments during reconstruction.

At the 2022 United Nations climate conference, participating countries agreed to create a new method: a fund for losses and damages, generally defined as consequences of climate change that go beyond what people are capable of adapting to.

The objective of the fund is to help countries that historically, they have contributed the most to climate change providing funding to other countries that have done little to cause it, yet are experiencing serious climate-related disasters.

However, so far the loss and damage fund is minimal compared to the cost of climate-related disasters. At the end of September 2024, total pledges amounted to approximately 700 million dollars. According to one estimate, the annual costs directly attributable to climate change, including loss of life, are around 150 times higher than before. 100 billion dollars.

An objective of United Nations Climate Conference 2024running until November 22 in Azerbaijan, aims to increase these contributions. There are still many areas of debate around the loss and damage fund, including whether investing in a country’s resilience to future disasters counts for it, whether existing financial systems should be used to channel money to countries in need, and what damage actually exceeds the limits of adaptation.

The fund is only part of a mosaic of initiatives. The disaster management community gets creative help countries finance disaster risk reduction and response.

Traditionally, humanitarian funding comes after a disaster, when photos and videos of the horrific event encourage governments to provide financial assistance and needs assessments have been completed. However, with current technology, it is possible to predict many climate-related disasters before they occur, and there is no reason for the humanitarian system to wait until the disaster occurs to respond. .

A global network of humanitarian groups and researchers I work with has been develop anticipatory action systems designed to make funds available to countries when an extreme event is predicted, but before disaster strikes. This can enable countries, for example, provide money so that people can use them for evacuation when a flood is forecast, open additional medical services when a a heat wave is expected or distribute drought-tolerant seeds before a scheduled date drought.

Groups are also developing new forms of insurance that can provide predictable financing for these changing disasters. Without insurance, it is usually those affected by the disaster who bear the costs. Experts recommend insurance as an essential part of a comprehensive climate change adaptation strategy.

However, traditional insurance can be expensive and slow to assess individual claims. One solution is “index insurance» which pays based on drought information without needing to wait to assess actual losses. African nations created a Anticipatory drought insurance product this can pay off when drought begins to occur, without waiting for the end of the season and poor harvests. This could, in theory, allow farmers to replant a drought-resistant crop in time to avoid a crop failure.

Another promising area of ​​innovation is the design of social services that can be expanded as needed during extreme weather events. These are called climate-smart social protection systems. For example, existing programs that provide food to low-income families can be scaled up during and after a drought to ensure that people always have sufficient and nutritious food. This requires government coordination among the variety of social services offered and is a promising way to support vulnerable communities in the face of the increasing number of extreme weather events.

These new disaster risk financing mechanisms are exciting, but they should be combined with investments in adaptation and resilience so that extreme weather events cause less damage. Communities will need to take steps such as planting different crops, building flood drainage systems and living in adaptive buildings. Managing climate risks requires a variety of innovative solutions before, during and after disasters.

Erin Coughlan de Perez is an associate professor at Tufts University who studies climate change and disasters. This article was produced in partnership with Conversation.