Low-income households too often slip through the cracks of relief and recovery assistance. In many cases, this is by design. Our disaster policies do not provide equitable help, leaving those most in need with insufficient resources to respond and rebuild. Originally posted on The Hill, read this Op-Ed from Carolyn Kousky and Carlos Martin.…Read More
COVID-19 has disrupted nearly every aspect of daily life and captured the world’s attention. Governments, nonprofits, and individuals have directed billions of dollars to COVID-19 relief. Although these efforts are commendable, the attention to the pandemic likely overshadows the urgency of other causes for which donations translate to proven impact. …Read More
California has faced challenges over the years in convincing communities and property owners to adopt land use measures to reduce the likelihood of a fire spreading, notably in areas that are most prone to this risk: the wildland-urban interface (WUI). California’s current fires are a reminder of the need for undertaking strategic measures now to reduce future wildfires.…Read More
As climate change drives up disaster losses, risk transfer tools can help provide financial resiliency to households and communities. Can innovative approaches to disaster coverage help? Originally published by BRINK, read more from Risk Center Executive Director, Carolyn Kousky, and Andy Read of Guy Carpenter.…Read More
First published in Svenska Dagbladet, Arthur van Benthem, Co-Lead of The Risk Center’s Business, Climate and Environment Lab, and others discuss their research on coronavirus-related policy interventions that present an opportunity to do things that also benefit the climate.…Read More
The World Bank issues CAT bonds for many client countries around the world. Similar to insurance, CAT bonds transfer a client’s disaster risk to financial markets. The Risk Center reached out to Michael Bennett and Naomi Cooney at the World Bank Treasury to hear about the role of CAT bonds in sovereign disaster risk financing and how the World Bank’s CAT bonds support sustainable development.…Read More
Originally posted on the Haas Energy Institute’s blog, Susanna Berkouwer writes about how Ghanaians were promised heavily subsidized electricity for the first three months of the pandemic. What happened?…Read More
Besides immediate property damages, wildfires can bring about longer-term impacts. For many local governments, a nearby wildfire can take a heavy toll on their fiscal health.…Read More
While the number of US wildfires per year remains fairly constant, the total acreage burned and average fire size has increased over the last thirty years.Without insurance, many individuals in wildfire-prone areas likely have insufficient resources to recover from these devastating events.…Read More
While there are a number of non-behavioral factors that affect households’ decision to purchase flood insurance, such as ability-to-pay and lack of information about risk or insurance, behavioral biases likely play a large role.…Read More
