25 - Audio Interview - May 2009

Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer

Climate Change: Planning For and Adapting To Disasters

Listen [MP3 09:38]

Summary

Natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and wildfires have posed a threat to society since the dawn of civilization. However, the past two decades have seen an increase in the loss of life and damage to property. Climate change is expected to exacerbate the frequency and impact of many of these extreme events and poor countries are likely to be most affected. How can insurance help vulnerable countries and communities adapt to climate change, and how would such schemes operate? Should such schemes be considered as part of the climate change strategy that is expected to emerge at Copenhagen this year?

In this Podcast Dr Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer explains how insurance mechanisms can help poor nations adapt to the ever increasing risk imposed by climate change.

Speaker Biography

Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer is leader of the Risk and Vulnerability Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria. She is an economist by training, and has received a BS and PhD at Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Maryland, respectively. Her current interest is global change and the risk of catastrophic events, and she is investigating options for improving the financial management of catastrophic risks in transition and developing countries. She and her colleagues have carried out extensive research on this topic and are developing options for the donor communities, as well as the climate adaptation community, to support insurance and other forms pro-active disaster assistance. She is an associate editor of the Journal for Risk Research and on the editorial board of Risk Analysis and Risk Abstracts. Other affiliations include the faculty of Beijing Normal University and the Science Committee of the Chinese Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management.

Read more about IIASA’s research into climate change and insurance and the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative.

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Last updated: 24 Feb 2011