Climate change adaptation and financial protection : synthesis of key findings from Colombia and Senegal

Developing countries are disproportionately affected by the rising trend of losses from climate-related extreme events. These losses are projected to continue to increase in future, driven by climate change and the accumulation of people and assets in high-risk areas. Effective climate change policies are needed to reduce the accumulation of risk, combined with instruments and tools to help retain, share or transfer financial losses if an extreme event occurs. These tools and instruments, collectively known as financial protection, can help people cope with the impacts of climate-related disasters, reduce costs of recovery and reconstruction, and encourage risk reduction. Linking financial protection and climate adaptation in development planning and policy has the potential to increase the resilience of affected communities. This paper uses case studies of Colombia and Senegal to examine how countries are using financial protection as part of their approaches to managing climate risks. The paper identifies emerging