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

The document argues that disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation have evolved separately despite significant overlaps. It highlights that while DRR focuses on near-term risks and emergency management, adaptation takes a longer-term view of adjusting to climatic shifts. The brief emphasizes that both are driven by exposure and vulnerability, which are often exacerbated by poor development planning. It calls for a transformative approach that prioritizes vulnerability reduction over simple risk management, integrating human rights and sustainable development to prevent the creation of new risks.

• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation often operate with different temporal and spatial scales and knowledge bases; DRR typically focuses on "current and near-term risks", whereas adaptation "typically takes a longer view".
• Economic losses from climate- and weather-related extreme events have increased since the second half of the 20th century, largely due to the "increased exposure of people and economic assets" and factors such as "settlement patterns, urbanization, and change in socio-economic conditions".
• The IPCC indicates that warming of the climate system is "unequivocal" and that continued greenhouse gas emissions will lead to "severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems".
• Current DRR practices can sometimes undermine long-term vulnerability reduction; for example, the provision of "temporary", poor-quality shelter after disasters can leave populations more vulnerable to subsequent events.
• The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) has seen limited success in addressing the "underlying risk factors and causes of risk creation" and has had a limited impact on improving governance to empower vulnerable groups.
• A truly integrated approach to DRR and adaptation requires a "human rights-based approach" because vulnerability is often rooted in "poverty, inequality and injustice with respect to basic human rights".
• Iterative risk management is endorsed as an effective adaptation decision-making approach because it is suited for "large uncertainties, long time frames, and the influence of both climate and non-climate related changes in disaster risk".

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} }