The policy landscape and challenges of Disaster Risk Financing: navigating risk and uncertainty

More anticipatory, pre-agreed disaster response is a shared goal for many in the disaster management and humanitarian communities. This paper considers the emerging policy landscape of Disaster Risk Financing (DRF), which here I define as including mechanisms which allow agencies to act in advance of disasters occurring, as well as those which aim to respond earlier to disasters which have already occurred. What they have in common is no longer waiting for disaster needs to become apparent before responding, however, this creates a challenge for practitioners because of the potential for acting erroneously. The paper explores the policy landscape around DRF and provides a more cohesive way of understanding approaches in this policy area through the shared challenge of decision-making under uncertainty. Drawing from expert interviews and science and technology studies theory, the paper provides recommendations for how practitioners can better navigate risk and uncertainty in DRF in a more nuanced way.