Financially Prepared - The Case for Pre-positioned Finance in European Union Member States and Countries under EU Civil Protection Mechanism

This report was developed as part of the technical assistance program ‘Phase 2 - Economics of Prevention and Preparedness (EDPP) in European Union (EU) Member States (MS) and Countries under EU Civil Protection Mechanism’ (UCPM). The report has been prepared for the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) and other European Commission (EC) stakeholders. It complements the Phase 1 report that focused on earthquake and flood risk and revealed that losses from these events at the EU level can cost Euro 13–50 billion a year depending on the magnitude of the events. The EDPP Phase 2 considers wildfire and drought hazards and current financing mechanisms and recommends options on how to scale disaster risk financing (DRF) at the national and regional levels. This report aims to inform discussions on the development of effective national and regional risk financing mechanisms by identifying funding gaps for wildfire and drought response. The identification of funding gaps can be used to inform a risk-layering approach, which combines different financial instruments to provide predictable finance when needed. This also includes the identification of additional regional funding to complement national finances.