Definition 1
Compound Climate Event means simultaneous or successive weather or climate events, extreme or not, with severe environmental, economic or social consequences [that occur over [a short time OR [●] years]].
Definition 2
Compound Climate Event means the combination of two or more, not necessarily extreme, weather or climate events that occur:
- at the same time in the same region;
- in close temporal succession in the same region; or
- concurrently in different regions,
and that lead to extreme societal, economic or environmental impacts.
Drafting notes and guidance
Extreme weather events are defined as weather that is unseasonal, unexpected, unusual or severe in comparison to historical weather distribution for a particular area.
In climate science, compound climate events can be classified as:
- preconditioned events, where a weather-driven or climate-driven precondition aggravates the impacts of a climatic impact-driver;
- multivariate events, where multiple simultaneous drivers and/or climatic impact-drivers lead to an impact;
- temporally compounding events, where a succession of hazards leads to an impact; and
- spatially compounding events, where hazards in multiple connected locations cause an aggregated impact.
Climatic impact-drivers (CIDs) are physical climate conditions, including but not limited to, extreme events that affect society or ecosystems. In the context of a compound climate event, CIDs are generally understood to have a detrimental effect on the relevant society or ecosystem.
For a party (an insured policyholder, for example) to be affected by a compound climate event, they (or relevant aspects of their business) will usually be situated within the exact location that the extreme weather event(s) occurred.