Lessons for Africa from Brazil on becoming more resilient to climate disasters
Bottom lines up front
- Disasters triggered by extreme climate events are increasingly generating significant economic losses, infrastructure disruptions, and social pressures, particularly in developing regions where rapid urbanization and climate vulnerability intersect.
- Inadequate coordination, early-warning systems, disaster management, and crisis communication often amplify their impacts and delay recovery.
- Brazil’s disaster monitoring and early-warning system lets decisionmakers assess the impact of disasters, identify triggering variables and effects, and enable future preventive actions—a model for developing nations across Africa.
Following a decade-long partnership, the Policy Center for the New South and the Atlantic Council have joined forces around a new program focused on the power of the Atlantic. This series of publications and webinars will focus both on opportunities and challenges around the basin. You can see the whole series here.
For African countries facing growing climate-related risks, strengthening disaster governance will require sustained investments in monitoring infrastructure, improved coordination among national and local institutions, and effective crisis communication systems. By adopting proactive approaches to risk management, governments can reduce the economic costs of disasters while enhancing resilience and safeguarding the foundations of sustainable development.
The experience of Brazil demonstrates how investments in scientific monitoring, early-warning systems, and the combination of institutional coordination and clear disaster governance can significantly improve disaster preparedness and reduce both human and economic losses. Integrated monitoring systems that link scientific analysis with operational decision-making enable governments to anticipate risks, issue timely warnings, and coordinate responses across multiple levels of government. Integrated monitoring systems that link scientific analysis with operational decision-making enable governments to anticipate risks, issue timely warnings, and coordinate responses across multiple levels of government.
The growing economic and social impacts of natural disasters highlight the need for stronger disaster risk governance across many African countries. As climate variability increases and urban populations expand in vulnerable areas, governments face rising exposure to floods, droughts, landslides, and other extreme events. While each country faces unique institutional and environmental conditions, the Brazilian experience offers several lessons that may help strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience.
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Image: A man observes the Piracicaba River in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 11, 2026. Due to constant rainfall in the region, the river reaches a level of 4.87 meters according to data from the Sao Paulo State Flood Warning System (SAISP), exceeding the overflow level of 4.70 meters and placing the town in a critical situation. (Photo by Igor Do Vale/NurPhoto/Reuters)