About this In Brief

This In Brief draws from a fuller report that forms the foundation for a process that seeks answers to these questions. It intends to help mobilise action through advice from those who engage with DRR and CCA on a daily basis through the realities on the ground.

Based on the premise that promoting and harnessing links between CCA and DRR requires constructive, actionable guidance, a conceptual tool known as the Zebra was developed by Katie Harris and Aditya Bahadur and is introduced in this brief.

 The third UNU-EHS Policy Brief is the continuation of "Vulnerable Countries and People" where people explained what they need in terms of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Now, the focus lies on how to implement DRR measures and insurance for adaptation.

"Vulnerable Countries and People. How Disaster Risk Reduction & Insurance Can Help Manage the Risks of Climate Change" focuses on linking disaster risk reduction and insurance approaches. A central concern is how to make such measures accessible and affordable to vulnerable people in developing countries. This Policy Brief helps delegates and policy-makers understand more clearly the links between climate risk insurance and "real people" by sharing interviews with people around the world affected by weather-related natural hazards.

 “The Megacity Resilience Framework” by Carsten Butsch, Benjamin Etzold and Patrick Sakdapolrak, provides policy recommendations on how to increase the resilience and sustainability of megacities where more than half of the world’s population is living today. Megacities are an extreme product of the urbanization process that is shaping the planet. Rather than merely concentrating on the negative effects - like poverty and slums - the three scientists draw attention to the new opportunities that megacities equally provide.

The Climate Change Adaptation in Africa program, funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, has supported a number of projects that have investigated how seasonal climate forecasts developed by national meteorological services (SCFs) might be better integrated into agricultural and pastoral decision-making to strengthen livelihoods and food security.

UNDP, in partnership with the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA), is producing a series of briefs on gender and climate change finance mechanisms: "Exploring the Gender Dimensions of Climate Finance Mechanisms." Each brief focuses on the role of a climate change finance mechanism in supporting poor women's and men's livelihoods, the status of gender and the specific finance mechanism, as well as steps forward for ensuring the the mechanism is more gender-responsive in the future.

"Established by the Kyoto Protocol, the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) has two concurrent objectives: to reduce
emissions and promote sustainable development. A market-based
mechanism, the CDM generates funds through investments
in emissions-reduction projects in developing countries....If utilized properly, the CDM can promote sustainable
development in host countries by bringing new technologies
into communities, which often leads to employment
opportunities and environmental benefits (e.g., improved

"Established at the 13 Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change in 2007, the Adaptation Fund was set up to
finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes
in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable
to the adverse effects of climate change....

"The evolving family of Climate Investment Funds (CIF)
comprises international investment instruments designed
to offer interim funding to support developing countries’
mitigation and adaptation efforts...

A policy brief on adapting water management to climate change. Written to assist central governments in developed
and developing countries, sub-sovereign
national bodies, universities and research institutes,
community organisations, banks and
private investors, aid donors, multilateral financial
institutions, UN agencies and other
international organisations in water resource adaptation.