African Risk Capacity Program Responds to Rise in Extreme Weather

A new report linking climate change and recent extreme weather events was released today in Kampala, Uganda by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  The report is the culmination of a two-year process involving 100 scientists and policy experts and predicts that certain types of extreme weather will multiply in number and intensity as human-induced global warming increases in the future.  Specifically, the IPCC found that there is at least a 66% chance that greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities, including coal-fired power plants and fuel burned through transportation, have led to an upsurge in climate extremes.  Although the report was hesitant to draw any conclusions relating human-induced greenhouse gas emissions to hurricanes, tropical storms, and tornadoes, it did cite human activity as the likely culprit for the rise in record-high temperatures, fewer record lows, and greater coastal flooding.  

Furthermore, the report stated that damage incurred through recent weather catastrophes has become exorbitant due to the “[r]apid urbanization and growth of megacities, especially in developing countries . . . [which] have led to the emergence of highly vulnerable urban communities, particularly through informal settlements and inadequate land management.”  While the industrialized world worries about economic and insured losses due to extreme weather, developing nations’ losses are typically measured in human lives and proportion of gross domestic product.  

To cope with the increased frequency of extreme weather and its effects on vulnerable populations, the African Union has created the African Risk Capacity (ARC) program.  As an alternative to the current system, which provides funding for disasters only on an ad hoc basis, the ARC would establish contingency funding that could become available automatically when extreme weather hit.  The ARC is modeled on the Caribbean Catastrophe Rick Insurance Facility, a program that “uses a parametric instrument to trigger payouts, which means that the payment is triggered by measurements of the intensity of the event rather than an assessment of damage incurred, thus ensuring quick release of funds at times affected countries need it most.”

For more on the African Risk Capacity program:
http://www.africanriskcapacity.org/about/background

For coverage of the IPCC’s report:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/report-climate-change-means-more-frequent-droughts-floods-to-come/2011/11/15/gIQAfwqHXN_print.html

To find out more about the IPCC:
http://www.ipcc.ch/