GENEVA, Switzerland  – Global efforts to tackle climate change are currently failing to protect the people who are most at risk, according to new analysis by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

IFRC’s World Disasters Report 2020: Come Heat or High Water, launched today, shows that the countries most affected by climate-related disasters receive only a fraction of the funding available for climate change adaptation and thus struggle to protect people from the aggravating effects of climate change.

“Our first responsibility is to protect communities that are most exposed and vulnerable to climate risks. However, our research demonstrates that the world is collectively failing to do this,” said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain. “There is a clear disconnection between where the climate risk is greatest and where climate adaptation funding goes. This disconnection could very well cost lives.”

The IFRC said the failure to protect the people most vulnerable to climate change is especially alarming given the steady increase in the number of climate and weather-related disasters.

According to the World Disasters Report, the average number of climate and weather-related disasters per decade has increased nearly 35 per cent since the 1990s. Over the past decade, 83 per cent of all disasters were caused by extreme weather and climate-related events such as floods, storms, and heat waves. Together, these disasters killed more than 410,000 people and affected a staggering 1.7 billion people.

The World Disasters Report also argues that the massive stimulus packages that are currently being developed around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are an opportunity to address and reduce climate vulnerability.

Said Chapagain:  “Climate adaptation work can’t take a back seat while the world is preoccupied with the pandemic: the two crises have to be tackled together. These disasters are already on the doorstep in every country around the world. We must significantly scale up investment in climate smart actions that strengthen risk reduction and preparedness, alongside climate-smart laws and policies.

“With challenges like these, international solidarity is not only a moral responsibility, but also the smart thing to do. Investing in resilience in the most vulnerable places is more cost-effective than to accept continued increases in the cost of humanitarian response, and contributes to a safer, more prosperous and sustainable world for everyone.”

In the Americas, 28 out of 35 countries are classified as medium, high, or very high in terms of climate-related risks, with parts of Central America and the Caribbean cyclically affected by tropical storms and hurricanes that devastate coastal communities and often cause landslides and floods.

Says IFRC’s head of the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean cluster, Ariel Kestens: “The impacts of global warming are already killing people and devastating lives and livelihoods every year, and they will only get worse without immediate and determined action. Recent hurricanes such as Theta, Eta and Iota in the region are very real examples of the potential for overwhelming impact and the need to act now.”

“Our first priority and focus is – and will always be – the communities that are most exposed and vulnerable to climate risks, and who are least able to manage those risks. These are the people who need the most support from governments and the broader international community. We therefore call on all actors to be climate smart, to get the priorities right, and to integrate and localise climate and disaster risk management approaches,” she added.