Adapting to adversity: Poverty and climate risks in Latin America and the Caribbean

How can Latin America and the Caribbean protect their hard-won progress against poverty in the face of mounting climate hazards and a changing climate? This book provides a powerful, evidence-based answer. Drawing on new data, original research, and previous studies from across the region, Adapting to Adversity examines how climate hazards threaten the livelihoods of the poor and near-poor--and what can be done to strengthen their resilience. It reveals the stark reality that more than a third of the region's people, including nearly half of all poor households, live in areas highly exposed to droughts, floods, hurricanes, heatwaves, and landslides. For millions living one shock away from falling back into poverty, climate risk is not a future concern but a daily struggle.

This book explores who is most at risk, how climate hazards intersect with poverty and inequality, and what policies are proving most effective. It highlights successful innovations such as early warning systems, catastrophe insurance facilities, and adaptive social protection programs, while exposing the persistent gaps that leave many communities dangerously unprotected. Beyond diagnosis, Adapting to Adversity offers a roadmap for action. It calls for layered, coordinated systems that combine prevention, financial protection, and social safety nets to make development gains durable. With adaptation needs projected to reach $55 billion annually by 2030, the book argues that financing, institutional reform, and political will are critical to turning resilience into reality. Essential reading for policymakers, development practitioners, and scholars, this book makes a compelling case: in Latin America and the Caribbean, adaptation is not a luxury--it is development itself.