Head of Centre for Disaster Protection to World Bank and IMF: pre-arranged financing critical to disaster response in developing countries

As global economic leaders converge in Washington, D.C., from April 21-26 for the 2025 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a prominent focus is emerging on the critical intersection of disaster risk and development financing.

In a recent press statement, Daniel Clarke, Executive Director of the Centre for Disaster Protection, emphasized the urgency of this issue, stating, “without tackling disaster risk, development goals remain out of reach.” This observation may be especially salient given the historic vulnerability of countries like Dominica, and the wider Caribbean region, to sudden, devastating loss from hurricanes and tropical storms, acknowledged as a hurdle to the trajectory of development. There have been increased high-level conversations across the territories about mitigating the impact of these climate-induced disasters on economic development, with a focus on paving the way forward.

According to Clarke, whose bio lists a background as an economist, disasters not only disrupt immediate economic achievements but also exacerbate long-term poverty, making it imperative for nations to integrate disaster risk into their financial frameworks. He advocates for pre-arranged financing, which is defined by a uk.gov, Government Actuaries Department report, as “committing funding and preparing response plans before disasters occur.”

Clarke’s comments shed light on the staggering statistic that in 2022, only 2% of the $76 billion spent on crisis finance was pre-arranged, with a mere fraction benefiting low-income countries. This highlights a significant gap in current financial strategies and the need for a paradigm shift in how disaster-related funding is approached. “The World Bank’s expanded crisis toolkit is a step forward,” he notes, “but more must be done to move pre-arranged finance from the margins to the mainstream.” Clarke posits that the emphasis on pre-arranged funding allows for quicker access to resources during emergencies, ultimately saving lives and protecting vulnerable populations.

In response to this pressing challenge, the High-Level Panel on Closing the Crisis Protection Gap has proposed a tenfold increase in pre-arranged finance by 2035, shared Clarke. Therefore, he says, Spring Meetings represent a pivotal opportunity for global leaders to align their strategies, tools, and investment priorities with this ambitious vision. As Clarke asserts, “make faster, more predictable crisis finance the norm, not the exception.”