Rigorous research demonstrates that improved access to formal financial services can help the poor deal with income shocks, whether they are weather-related (such as drought or floods), threats to health and well-being, or other unexpected challenges. As the effects of climate change intensify, appropriate financial services play a crucial role in building household resilience to climate variability and disaster risk. Further evidence is needed to better understand (i) how to design effective financial products and services, including insurance, savings, and payment systems, to meet the needs of populations facing climate-induced disruptions to their livelihoods; (ii) the trade-offs between different products and combinations of products; and (iii) the impact of financial inclusion on resilience to climate variability and disaster risk.

In response to this challenge, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Mercy Corps, and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have joined forces to convene researchers, donors, and practitioners in a roundtable on financial inclusion and resilience to climate variability. Through the event, key stakeholders will take stock of existing evidence, identify important gaps in the evidence, define and prioritize open research questions, and advance a research agenda on financial inclusion and resilience.

The organizers will be working on an evidence brief on the key findings and open research questions on financial inclusion and resilience in the lead up to the event. The insights from the event will be incorporated into a final version to be published in mid-2018.

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