Background: Climate change is a significant factor shaping the planet and changing the
pattern of disasters which leads to direct and indirect consequences. The result is a huge
amount of affected people who rely on humanitarian aid. The satisfaction of this need is the
responsibility of disaster management. Only little research about the relation of disaster
management and climate change was done so far but would be of utmost importance as
climate change is one main obstacle for efficient humanitarian work and disaster
management design, in return, affects the resilience and vulnerability of disaster-prone areas.
Purpose: This thesis paper investigates the interconnectedness of climate change and
disaster management. It has the purpose to explore how humanitarian actors in the scientific
and operational sector of disaster management experience the impact of climate change and
which preventive adaptation strategies they identify to cope with climate-related challenges.
Method: The methodology is based on a relativistic ontology and follows social
constructionism as epistemology. A multiple case study within the scope of a qualitative
inductive approach was conducted by contrasting scientific and operational experts’ opinions
about the role of climate change in the disaster management context. Primary data were
gathered in the form of semi-structured interviews by applying the typical case sampling. The
selected method of data analysis is the content analysis approach.
Conclusion: The results show that climate change consequences can be determined as a
highly relevant factor shaping disaster management by intensifying general disaster
management challenges. To adjust to this development, adaptation strategies have to be
established and should follow a holistic approach. The main adaptation strategies identified
are localization, forecast-based financing and superior data analysis in combination with
enhanced information management showing major effects if applied within prevention and
preparedness. Restricting factors in adaptation are lacking resources, coordination and
communication problems and an insufficient flexibility level of systems and tools.
Technology application, data analysis and forecasting, as well as lessons learnt instead can be
seen as facilitating factors to overcome the challenges and barriers.