Germany : The Economic Case for Investing in Disaster Preparedness and Resilience

This report presents a strong economic case for investing in disaster and emergency preparedness. Specifically, this report aims to help policymakers identify and prioritize the most urgent and cost-effective opportunities to bolster the country’s resilience, thereby improving preparedness not only for climate-related disasters, but for a wide range of future shocks. It also emphasizes the high benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) and multiple benefits of resilience investments that can arise regardless of whether a disaster hits. The report shows that as risks in the country evolve, so too must the solutions, thus requiring continuous efforts to monitor risks and strengthen civil protection capabilities. Investments in Europe consistently demonstrate high economic returns, with benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) ranging from €2–10 per €1 invested. Results from the literature and the new analysis presented in this report show that, in Germany, every €1 invested in disaster preparedness and prevention yields a median economic return of €2–6 for lower-bound and upper bound estimates, with some individual estimates being as high as €500