Disasters, climate change and development: Reducing risk by tackling the drivers of vulnerability

This discussion brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the relationship between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation, arguing for a more integrated approach that addresses the underlying drivers of vulnerability and the wider context of social and economic development.

• Economic losses from climate- and weather-related extreme events have increased since the second half of the 20th century, primarily due to the increased exposure of people and economic assets, as well as urbanization and changes in socio-economic conditions.
• Between 2002 and 2011, average annual damages from climatological, hydrological, and meteorological hazards were US$103 billion, US$24 billion, and US$52 billion, respectively. Geographically, 47.9% of these damages occurred in Asia, 38.6% in the Americas, 9% in Europe, 3.7% in Oceania, and less than 0.8% in Africa.
• The IPCC indicates that risks from extreme weather events, including coastal flooding, extreme precipitation, and heat waves, are expected to be high with just 1°C of additional warming and will increase as temperatures rise.
• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation often operate as fragmented communities with different knowledge bases, institutions, and funding sources, leading to policy inconsistency and redundant investments.
• Current DRR practices can sometimes increase long-term vulnerability; for example, providing poor-quality temporary shelter after a disaster can leave populations exposed to subsequent hazards, as seen in El Salvador where temporary huts from Hurricane Mitch (1998) did not withstand earthquakes in 2001.
• To achieve transformational change in reducing vulnerability, the brief recommends a human rights-based approach that addresses poverty, inequality, and injustice, and suggests shifting the focus from risk reduction to vulnerability reduction.

APA

Schipper, L., & Vulturius, G. (2014). Disasters, climate change and development: Reducing risk by tackling the drivers of vulnerability. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2014-Climate-change-DRR.pdf

Chicago

Schipper, Lisa, and Gregor Vulturius. Disasters, climate change and development: Reducing risk by tackling the drivers of vulnerability. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2014-Climate-change-DRR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schipper |first1=Lisa |last2=Vulturius |first2=Gregor |title=Disasters, climate change and development: Reducing risk by tackling the drivers of vulnerability |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2014-Climate-change-DRR.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schipper2014disasters, author = {Schipper, Lisa and Vulturius, Gregor}, title = {{Disasters, climate change and development: Reducing risk by tackling the drivers of vulnerability}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2014-Climate-change-DRR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }