Climate change, disasters and electricity generation

This report urges governments and energy companies to re-think their energy infrastructure in light of changing disaster risks due to climate change. It finds that unless governments and energy suppliers improve their planning for natural disasters, lives could be lost, economies damaged and ecosystems destroyed. For example, when 126 oil and gas platforms were completely destroyed and another 183 were damaged due to the impacts of Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Rita on the US Gulf coast in 2005, the consequences of the fossil fuel industry being hit was an estimated total loss of up to US$4.5 billion.

The report lays out a series of simple steps planning authorities and energy companies can take to make their energy supply ‘climate smart', including improving linkages between energy ministries, climate ministries, and disasters ministries to improve energy policy and planning.