Climate Risk Assessment

A Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) is a systematic and forward-looking process used to identify, analyze, and prioritize potential adverse impacts of climate change on human and ecological systems. It examines how climate-related hazards interact with exposure (people, assets, ecosystems), vulnerability (susceptibility and limited capacity to cope), and responses (adaptation, mitigation, or lack thereof) to produce risk.As articulated in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), risk is shaped by environmental and social conditions and by the decisions and actions taken to manage those conditions. Effective, inclusive, and timely responses can reduce risk, while inadequate or unjust responses, including maladaptation, can create new risks or amplify it.CRA integrates quantitative models, qualitative knowledge, and stakeholder and right sholders engagement, and increasingly incorporates plural knowledge systems, scenario planning, and social equity considerations. It informs evidence-based and values-driven responses aimed at minimising loss and damage, building resilience, and enabling climate-resilient development pathways.