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.