More than 1 billion people have lifted themselves out of poverty in the past 15 years, but climate and disaster risks threaten these achievements. Global asset losses from disasters are now reaching an average of more than US$300 billion a year. A recent World Bank report finds that the impacts of disasters on well-being are equivalent to a US$520 billion drop in consumption (60 percent more than the asset losses usually reported) and force some 26 million people into poverty every year (Hallegatte et al., 2017). Moreover, countries face increasingly complex threats that often compound the negative impacts of disaster and climate shocks, ranging from migration caused by fragility and conflict situations, to the risk of pandemics. For instance, it is estimated that 93 percent of people facing extreme poverty today are living in countries that are politically fragile or environmentally vulnerable, and in many cases, both. The United Nations’ humanitarian appeal for 2017, for example, stands at a record US$22.2 billion, to help almost 93 million people affected by conflicts and natural disasters. […]