The Climate and Disaster Risk Screening Tools developed by the World Bank, provide a systematic, consistent, and transparent way of considering short- and long-term climate and disaster risks in project and national/sector planning processes. Screening is an initial, but essential, step to ensure these risks are assessed and managed to support mainstreaming of climate and disaster resilience into key development policies, programs, and projects.
These self-paced tools provide high-level screening at an early stage of program and/or project development. The tools do not provide a detailed risk analysis, nor do they suggest specific options for increasing the project’s resilience. They are intended to help determine the need for further studies, consultation, and/or dialogue in the course of program or project design.
These tools can be applied to a range of development sectors in support of a) national plans and strategies and b) project level investments:
1) National/Policy level tool: targeting national plans, sector-wide strategies, and development policy and institutional strengthening and reforms
2) Project level tools:
- Agriculture
- Water
- Roads
- Coastal flood protection
- Energy
- Health
- General. The general tool covers a range of sectors: non-road transportation (aviation, marine transportation, multi-modal and transit systems, rail, river transportation);community development; education; finance; industry; information and communication technology (ICT); mining and metals; natural resources (biodiversity, fisheries, and forestry); social development; solid waste; urban; and other.
Application of these tools will help:
- Learn about the climate trends and key geophysical hazards relevant to a specific country, or project.
- Flag potential impacts and risks from climate and geophysical hazards in a systematic, consistent, and transparent way.
- Inform the dialogue, consultation and planning processes at the project and program level.
- Recognize the need for further detailed assessment during project preparation and or planning processes.
- Identify other resources and tools to complement your assessments.
The greatest value of the tools, however, is that they provide a structured and systematic process for understanding climate and disaster risks. The ratings, while instructive, should be seen as informing further consultations and dialogue, to help determine the need for further studies in the course of project design or planning at the national/sector level.
Meeting Climate Change Commitments
These tools were developed to support World Bank teams in their efforts to meet new commitments established as part of the 17th IDA replenishment. In that context, IDA Deputies agreed to integrate climate change and disaster risk management into country planning, strategies, and financing. Specifically, they agreed that:
- All IDA Country Partnership Frameworks (CPFs) should incorporate climate and disaster risk consideration into the analysis of the country’s development challenges and priorities and, when agreed with the country, incorporate such considerations in the content of the programs and the results framework; and
- All new IDA operations should be screened for short- and long-term climate change and disaster risks and, where risks exist, appropriate resilience measures should be integrated in the project design.
While the tools were developed to support these two discrete but interlinked IDA-17 policy commitments, they have broader application beyond IDA countries and their investments – and are being offered as an open resource for development practitioners worldwide.