Counter Crisis: Breaking the cycle of response and recovery

Author: Center for Disaster Protection

In the second episode of Counter Crisis, we hear from Dan Lund and Kathy Baughman McLeod as they take us beyond the usual disaster headlines. From storms in the Pacific to extreme heat in South Asia, they offer their perspectives on what it will take to build a disaster financing system that works locally. They highlight on one urgent fact: if we want to help the communities most affected by climate shocks, we must move money before disaster strikes. 

Episode 2 opens with a look back at Cyclone Winston which hit Fiji in 2016, causing damages equivalent to 30% of the country’s GDP in just 24 hours. Dan Lund, Special Advisor on Climate Change to the Fijian government, shares what it was like to navigate disaster financing in the wake of Winston: aid did arrive, but it came in ‘small pots’, routed through different channels and usually too slowly. This reactive and fragmented financing approach made it difficult to plan and time responses: 

“It’s like fighting a raging fire with dozens of fire extinguishers.”

– Dan Lund 

Both guests see the opportunity for increased use of pre-arranged finance. Kathy, CEO of Climate Resilience for All, highlights the compelling fact that while most disasters can be predicted, less than 2% of international climate financing is pre-arranged. Another important benefit of pre-arranged financing is its ability to improve governments’ risk management preparedness in the context of worsening and more frequent disasters. As Dan explains, “It’s not just about the finances, it’s about that finance being there to incentivise governments to develop long-term systems.”

The conversation then shifts to a slower moving, less visible emergency: extreme heat. Unlike cyclones and hurricanes, heat events do not have a name but they are increasingly relentless and hit poorer women and informal workers the hardest. It raises different challenges for disaster risk financing. 

“What’s really interesting about a lot of these insurance schemes and the way that the financial system understands these risks: it’s about assets. Heat is a lot about the human body.”

– Kathy Baughman McLeod 

Kathy explains how Climate Resilience for All is experimenting with parametric insurance for heat stress, where payouts are triggered when specific heat thresholds are crossed, helping protect informal workers like market vendors and street sweepers. This innovation highlights the need for better data, particularly morbidity and mortality data.  

As climate shocks become more frequent, Dan notes that the linear disaster risk management cycle of response and recovery is breaking down.  

“We’re always in a process of responding, recovering, preparing, all at the same time. So, this is no longer about single events. It’s really about an ongoing process where we need to be dealing with these impacts.”

– Dan Lund 

Both guests make it clear that we need more demand-driven solutions based on lived realities and more local leadership. Dan highlights some of the homegrown climate solutions that Fiji has been working on, including a climate relocation trust fund for communities – one of the first in the world – as well as parametric schemes involving payouts made to farmers via mobile phones after a disaster occurs. Climate Resilience for All is experimenting with linking payouts for extreme heat with localised data, for example from wearable technology.  

At a time when foreign aid is shrinking, this conversation reminds us why local solutions must lead the way. 

Listen now to Episode 2 now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Counter Crisis is produced by Tortoise Media.