The EM-DAT database, which tracks over 27,000 global natural and technological disasters, is at risk of closing due to the dismantling of USAid. This free resource provides critical data on deaths, displacements, and economic losses, serving as a primary evidence base for IPCC reports and government climate strategies.
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The funding model here was the primary failure. Relying on a single government agency for 90 percent of a global public good creates a massive single point of failure. Transitioning to a multilateral funding structure is the only way to keep this data neutral and stable.
Exactly. It is wild that a database used by the IPCC and national governments only needs 300k a year to run. That is a tiny amount of money to lose a 30 year record of climate impacts.
Losing this data hurts risk modeling for infrastructure. If you cannot accurately track the frequency and intensity of floods or storms in a specific region, your insurance and resilience costs for new grid projects become guesses. Who is going to step in to fund the hosting?
The article mentions an open letter with 4,000 signatures, but signatures do not pay the bills. We need to see actual commitments from development banks or climate philanthropy before the servers go dark.
