Initiative: money "on the spot" for people affected by climate disasters

In the face of increasingly frequent and devastating climate threats, an innovative and simple solution is gaining ground: the rapid transfer of money to affected populations via mobile phone. Instead of waiting for a disaster to strike, this method allows money to arrive before the event, giving people a chance to prepare. "The sooner you get the money, the better," says Ranil Dissanayake, a researcher at the Center for Global Development. But what really makes a difference is preventive relocation, which gives people time to prepare their shelters, store food or even move to safe areas before they are affected by floods, hurricanes or massive fires. A prime example is the case of workers from northern India, who, if they receive financial aid before an extreme heat wave, can choose not to work in dangerous conditions. Although the concept is supported by experts such as Esther Duflo, French economist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, its implementation in the context of climate disasters is still rare. However, humanitarian organizations have begun to test this type of intervention. In Bangladesh in 2020, more than 23,000 households received financial aid before a devastating flood, allowing them to better prepare. Studies show that pre-disaster cash transfers reduce the risks families are exposed to, enabling them to protect their livelihoods and avoid hunger. In Bangladesh, households that received aid protected their animals and stocked up, while those that did not receive these transfers had a 52 percent higher risk of going without food for a day. Organizations such as GiveDirectly are currently applying this model in countries such as Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi. In Nigeria, where more flooding is feared, a pilot program has pre-registered 20,000 households to receive financial aid at least three days before the flood peaks.

These programs rely on advanced technologies such as satellite imagery combined with artificial intelligence to identify regions most exposed to climate risks. Once identified, families receive rapid transfers, giving them a chance to prepare and limit the impact of natural disasters.