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Climate Risk-Based Prevention : An Imperative for Climate-Ready Governance

As the climate crisis accelerates, the nature of disasters is undergoing a qualitative transformation. The intensity of traditional disasters such as heatwaves and wildfires is increasing, while new risks—including flash droughts and compound disasters—are occurring more frequently, exposing the limitations of existing disaster response systems. In Korea, the average annual economic damage from natural disasters over the past five years (2019–2023) reached KRW 1.375 trillion, a sharp increase compared to KRW 198 billion during the previous five-year period (2014–2018). A fundamental cause of this escalation lies in the current disaster management framework’s reliance on historical data. Ahead of the planned release of the 4th National Climate Crisis Response Plan at the end of 2025, this issue brief identifies key policy priorities for shifting toward a prevention-centered disaster management paradigm.

In the Era of Climate Crisis, An Unforeseen Disaster Called Flash Drought

Flash droughts are an emerging type of drought that has newly emerged as climate change intensifies hydrologic extremes. Within days to weeks, they can rapidly deplete water resources due to a combination of precipitation deficits and high temperatures that increase evapotranspiration.