Hurricane Melissa shows climate finance urgently needed for pre-emptive protection schemes
Early action can provide big returns on investment.
Hurricane Melissa’s trail of destruction in the Caribbean shows why small island states and low-income countries need earlier, faster, more reliable and cheaper access to climate finance.
Strong evidence exists that taking early action by building resilient infrastructure and funding social protection programmes is more cost-effective than reactive, post-disaster responses.
Every US$1 invested early can yield up to $5.17 in in development gains and avoided losses, IIED research has found.
But funding these investments is difficult for governments whose budgets are hit by regular climate-linked shocks and, often, burdensome sovereign debt repayments. This is where early, patient, predictable climate finance focused on the long term should come in.
Ritu Bharadwaj, IIED’s climate resilience director, said: “Scenes of total devastation following extreme weather shouldn’t be inevitable. It doesn’t have to be this way for Jamaica or any other country.
“Research shows the cost of investing early in infrastructure that can stand up to climate change is far outweighed by the economic benefits.
“Add a social safety net that pays out before disaster strikes and you have a system that cuts future losses and makes it easier for people to rebuild.
“But small island states and low-income countries need speedy access to climate finance to make this happen.
“At the moment applying for grants or loans is costly and time-consuming. And at the same time, projects that are funded frequently fail to involve local communities in decision-making or address their needs.”
Melissa’s destruction also reinforces how important it is that the new Fund for responding to Loss and Damage creates a fast, simple process for disbursing its resources. The fund was ‘operationalised’ two years ago at COP28, but won’t take its first applications until December.
Notes to editors
- Read IIED’s recent paper, Climate resilience through social protection: the economic case for early action
- For more on shortcomings in the current system for financing adaptation to climate change, read a longread by Tom Mitchell, IIED’s executive director
For more information or to request an interview, contact Jon Sharman:
+44 7407 727 886, or [email protected]
