Researcher (Postdoc) on climate risk financing (fulltime)

The Centre for Disaster Resilience (CDR) is a new initiative that combines the expertise from multiple departments within Faculty ITC on disaster resilience and their underlying hazards and risks. It was opened on 28 October 2021 to consolidate and strengthen ITC's research, and to build and strengthen partnerships in relation to disaster resilience. Through research, education, and cooperation activities, CDR wants to contribute to sustainable development by significantly reducing disaster risk of vulnerable populations. This will be achieved among others through the sharing of open software tools and spatial/temporal information through a geo-portal.

Your tasks

Timely geospatial information is of critical importance to assess the location, frequency, and impact of weather-related disasters. Climate risk financing mechanisms require such information, often extracted from earth observation data, to develop and price financial products. One such mechanism is parametric insurance, whereby payouts are triggered by the occurrence of a pre-specified event. For example, farmers can be reimbursed for crop or livestock losses based on drought-induced reductions in vegetation vigor, as estimated from satellite data. The Faculty ITC has contributed to the design of various drought index insurance projects across Africa, and has ample experience in using earth observation for assessing a variety of weather impacts. Another example is forecast-based financing for anticipatory action in humanitarian contexts, including through the Anticipation Hub to which ITC contributes.

This position is intended to better streamline ITC's contribution to the growing international agenda on climate risk financing, while offering you the possibility to define a clear personal research program. You are expected to strategically position yourself amidst international networks and initiatives, such as the "Disaster Risk Financing & Insurance Program" and "Global Risk Financing Facility" of the World Bank, the "Africa Disaster Risk Financing Programme (ADRiFi)" of the African Development Bank, the "Anticipation Hub", the "Centre for Disaster Protection (CDP)", "InsuResilience", and the technical support provided by the European Space Agency in the "Crisis Risk Finance Analytics" programme. Close collaboration with colleagues affiliated with ITC's newly established Centre for Disaster Resilience (CDR) is encouraged to optimize the utilization of ITC's expertise within these international initiatives. ITC, as an internationally established institution in geospatial analysis, recognizes the strategic importance of establishing interdisciplinary teams for making societal impact. We are therefore seeking an enthusiastic colleague to broaden our expertise and complement our strengths, in order to contribute to effective solutions for climate resilience of vulnerable populations.

You will:

• establish a research line related to the effective and innovative use of geospatial data for climate risk financing, with an initial focus on disaster risk management in food and agriculture;
• develop and maintain a strong presence in disaster risk financing fora and networks;
• identify relevant research and capacity building opportunities related to the use of earth observation in climate risk financing programs;
• based on identified opportunities, pursue and attract funding that builds on ITC's geo-spatial expertise;
• contribute to the definition and development of geospatial workflows, data, and services related to parametric financing solutions that may be published in a geo-portal;
• publish results in scientific journals;
• develop material for a case study around the design of climate risk financing options, which could be brought into challenge-based components of ITC's M.Sc. programs;
• design and coordinate, in collaboration with relevant ITC staff of different departments, a short course for online and in-house audiences on the use of geospatial data in climate risk financing.