Resilience to extreme weather

‘Resilience to extreme weather’ is a past Royal Society project that looked at key questions to help inform important decisions about adaptation and risk reduction that are being made at global, national and local levels.

We examined people's resilience to weather- and climate-related extreme events, in particular, floods, droughts and heatwaves. We looked at how improvements can be made to protect lives and livelihoods by comparing the options available and considering the fundamental building blocks for resilience. 

Recommendations

• Governments have a responsibility to develop and resource resilience strategies
• Governments should act together at the international level to build resilience; sharing expertise, co-ordinating policy and pooling resources to confront common risks
• To limit the need for costly disaster responses, more national and international funds will need to be directed to measures that build resilience to extreme weather
• The purpose, design and implementation of policy frameworks covering climate change, disaster risk reduction and development should be aligned and consistent regarding extreme weather
• Those who make and implement policies need to take practical measures to protect people and their assets from extreme weather.
• The risks posed by extreme weather need to be better accounted for in the wider financial system, in order to inform valuations and investment decisions and to incentivise organisations to reduce their exposure
• Information about extreme weather should be suitable for users’ needs. Funders should encourage collaborations and ongoing dialogue between producers and users of knowledge
• Research to improve the understanding of risks from current weather and to model accurately future climate change impacts should be increased to provide relevant information for decision-makers, particularly at regional and local levels. 

Associated publications

• Poster: Promoting science for disaster risk reduction (PDF)
• Statement: Taking joint action on disasters, development and climate change
• Meeting note: The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the challenge for science