Research reports and studiesMay 2019Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Rebecca Nadin, Jan Kellett, Margherita Calderone, Adriana Quevedo, Katie Peters and Leigh MayhewComplex risks. Photo: Steven Dickie/squarebeasts.netOver the past decade, important progress has been made on poverty reduction, disease control and access to healthcare, education and services. However, these gains are fragile, and are undermined by new and emerging threats, including climate change, economic and financial instability, antibiotic resistance, transnational criminal networks and terrorism, cyber fragility, geopolitical volatility and conflict. These threats are interconnected, they cross national borders and they are occurring simultaneously.Growing awareness of these challenges is leading to calls by governments, the international development community and donors for an approach to development that takes account of these complex risks: that is risk-informed. Risk-informed development is a risk-based decision process that enables development to become more sustainable and resilient. It pushes development decision-makers to understand and acknowledge that all development choices involve the creation of uncertain risks, as well as opportunities.This report highlights the need for:a move away from single hazard risk analysis to an explicit acknowledgement of the interactions between multiple threats, including economic and financial instability, geopolitical volatility, natural hazards and climate changesystematic assessments of complex threats and risks, opportunities, uncertainties, risk tolerances, perceptions and options to ensure that development is sustainable and resilientidentifying who has responsibility to act upon risk management, with what resources, by when and how those actions are to be monitoredanalysis of the potential trade-offs of development policies and investment actions, including social and environmental impacts, feasibility and cultural and ethical outcomesthe provision to policy-makers of a robust evidence base around the role that unsustainable development plays in creating riskunderstanding and acknowledging that all development and investment choices involve trade-offs.Read the research Risk-informed development: from crisis to resilienceDocumentpdfRelatedThe next frontier for disaster risk reduction: tackling disasters in fragile and conflict-affected contexts This report looks at the barriers, real and perceived, to adapting DRR policy and overseas development assistance to fragile or conflict-affected contexts.Research reports and studies13 October 2017Resilience across the post-2015 frameworks: towards coherenceThis working and briefing paper and summarises findings and recommendations from an analysis of resilience across the post-2015 frameworks.Working and discussion papers2 November 2016Financing sustainable development: The critical role of risk and resilienceThis report makes a case for financing that directly manages risk and builds resilience.Resource20 March 2016The triple dividend of resilienceRealising development goals through the multiple benefits of disaster risk management.Research reports and studies4 December 2015See more:disaster risk reductionsustainable development goalsresilienceclimateconflict and violenceGlobal