RDR Monthly Event: Financing Climate Change and Disaster Resilience in the Asia Pacific
Join Dr Saut Sagala for a virtual talk on disaster risk financing strategies to strengthen climate resilience in the Asia Pacific.
The UCL Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction (RDR) is pleased to present an online lunchtime talk with Dr Saut Sagala of the Resilience Development Initiative (RDI) - a non-profit organisation and global think-tank promoting sustainable development and resilience-building efforts in communities facing challenges such as disasters, climate change, and social vulnerabilities. It will be hosted by Dr Rozana Himaz, Chair of Research at UCL RDR.
This session will propose future improvements for disaster risk financing strategies - to enhance regional resilience in the Asia Pacific against climate-related disasters - and will also highlight key regional and national strategic gaps and success stories.
Developing countries in the Asia-Pacific are highly vulnerable to climate change-induced disasters, and face increasing impacts through more frequent and intense floods, tropical cyclones, droughts, heatwaves, and sea-level rise. Disaster events, coupled with the impacts of climate change and other shocks, have caused significant economic losses—estimated at US$57 billion in 2022 alone—and exacerbated non-economic damages.
Lower-income nations in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and small island developing states (SIDS) suffer disproportionately, with disaster recovery straining fiscal health and diverting resources from development priorities to debt repayment. Investing in climate-sensitive disaster risk reduction (DRR) through cost-effective mechanisms like risk retention, pooling, and transfer schemes is critical to mitigate these challenges.
Join us to hear about the work of the Resilience Development Initiative and the future of risk financing strategies.
About RDR and RDI
UCL RDR and RDI are collaborating over the next two years on the project ‘Social Finance for Better Post-Disaster Health’. This work is supported by a Research Collaborations grant, number 1203760081, under the International Science Partnerships Fund. The grant is funded by the UK Department of Science Innovation and Technology in partnership with the British Council. Find out more on the UK Government website.
Associate Professor and Senior Fellow Researcher
Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) / Resilience Development Initiative (RDI)
Dr Saut Sagala is the cluster chair of Disaster & Climate Resilience, Resilience Development Initiative (RDI), Indonesia (since 2013). He is also a researcher & lecturer at the Regional and City Planning Department, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) (since 2009). His work spans interdisciplinary and resilience studies including on interdisciplinary and resilience studies and policy analysis, housing and settlement, rehabilitation construction, infrastructure planning and management, risk financing and monitoring and evaluation, and he has worked for many international & national clients over the last 21 years.
Dr Rozana Himaz is an applied microeconomist, Chair of Research at the UCL Department for Risk and Disaster Reduction (RDR), and Advisor at Verite Research Sri Lanka. Her research focuses on how household welfare can be brought to the forefront of disaster risk reduction efforts. This involves catastrophe risk modelling that incorporates social vulnerability, and understanding the evolving consequences of shocks on education, health and labour market outcomes. Previous appointments included working with the Young Lives project (Oxford University) that follows a cohort of 12,000 children over 26 years in India, Ethiopia, Peru and Vietnam.
Further information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All