Climate variability and change can affect social and economic development across sectors and in multiple ways. At USAID, we are working to integrate what we know about climate variability and change in our planning and programming.

Climate variability and change impacts development. Changing precipitation patterns can hurt food security, and less predictable and more intense floods and storms can destroy homes, hospitals and roads. Hotter temperatures can harm human health including through heat exhaustion and expansion of pests and diseases into new geographical areas.

USAID programs help people, communities, governments and institutions in developing countries become more resilient to actual and expected changes in climate. They often support reductions in greenhouse gas emissions as well, helping to alter the very trajectory of climate change.

At USAID, climate risk management is the process of assessing, addressing and adaptively managing climate risks that may impact the ability of USAID programs to achieve development objectives. Climate risk management helps to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of USAID’s efforts, ensuring U.S. taxpayer dollars are well spent and supporting countries in their journey to self-reliance. USAID began systematically managing climate risks to planning and programming in 2015, building on earlier efforts to integrate climate considerations into the Agency’s work.