Climate Adaptation and Disaster Finance

Climate impacts and unsustainable development are leading to increasing impacts from disasters. As a result, the impacts of disasters are measured in increasing costs, as well as in the overall number of billion-dollar disasters. Paying for disasters requires accessing resources from government, private, and humanitarian sectors, with varying economic consequences in the short and long term based on pre-disaster resilience. Additionally, as climate disasters increase, new mechanisms for climate adaptation and disaster resilience financing are being developed and implemented.

This course provides an overview of how money flows before, during, and after disasters through readings, analyses, and case studies. Students will learn to quantify disaster risk using the core metrics that drive pricing and decision-making, and to assemble layered portfolios of financial instruments. Students then apply this knowledge in analyzing country-level disaster finance risk and opportunities, in developing novel approaches to climate adaptation and disaster financing through a group pitch, and in a capstone simulation that requires teams to manage the resilience finances of a city over time.