Understanding and managing the impact of climate on lives, livelihoods and society is critical to ensuring human rights are assured and the process of development is successful. The climate of a location contributes to defining opportunities for a safe and productive life while setting conditions that can create risks that can threaten these same opportunities. Human interaction with the climate of a location is often through seeking to gain maximum advantages from the climatic conditions while at the same time accepting and adjusting to the risks that come with the climate of a place.

The Climate Risk Assessment Guide – Central Asia provides a clear and practical process to assess the impacts and outcomes of climate-related events on lives and livelihoods in Central Asia. The need for the Guide arises from the region’s arid climate and the livelihoods systems based on this climate, significant impacts from climate-related damage, and regional infrastructure not designed to reflect current capacities to address climate risk impacts. Short and long-term climate risks threaten poverty reduction and developmental sustainability. Existing climate impact reports for Central Asia need to be complemented by assessment results that downscale the understanding of climate impacts in ways that support sub-national climate risk management.

This paper is part of the CDKN-funded project, Developing integrated Climate Risk Assessment for CCD planning in Central Asia, which aims to develop a sound methodology for a regional climate risk assessment and the development of corresponding national climate risk profiles, which are to provide solid boundary conditions at the regional level and a knowledge basis for an effective introduction of CRM in policy making for sustainable development in each of the five CA countries.

Further reading:

Project homepage: Developing integrated Climate Risk Assessment for CCD planning in Central Asia