The economic benefits to society of investing in disaster risk management substantially exceed the costs. Appropriately designed risk reduction strategies represent a sound
investment that is central both to alleviating poverty and to responding to the expected impacts of climate change on lives and livelihood systems. This core finding emerges from detailed analysis of avenues for reducing flood and, to a lesser extent, drought risks in India, Nepal and Pakistan. This report provides insights from an evaluation of the costs and benefits of disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change in South Asia. The report is based on fieldwork undertaken in the Nepal Tarai; Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India; and Rawalpindi, Pakistan.