Online Policy Dialogue: Environmental Extremes, Economic Impacts, and Resilience in the CAREC Region: The Case of Dzud in Mongolia

Across the CAREC region, environmental extremes such as droughts, floods, heatwaves, and severe winters are becoming more frequent and intense. These climate shocks directly affect livelihoods that depend on livestock husbandry, rain-fed and irrigated agriculture, and natural resource management. The consequences include reduced herd sizes, falling household incomes, food insecurity, damage to infrastructure, supply-driven inflation, unbudgeted fiscal spending, and climate-induced migration. Together, these pressures increase macroeconomic volatility and reduce long-term growth potential.

Mongolia offers a compelling and well-documented case. In 2024, an iron dzud, a severe winter disaster where icy crust blocks livestock access to forage, killed 8 million animals, representing 12.5% of the national herd. The disaster caused estimated losses of 1.9 billion US dollars, contracted the agricultural sector by 35%, reduced overall GDP growth by 3.6 percentage points, and pushed inflation to 9.6%. This example illustrates how a single environmental extreme can trigger large-scale economic consequences, making resilience a policy priority for the entire region.

This policy dialogue is jointly organized by the CAREC Institute and the Asian Development Bank. It will bring together experts and policymakers to examine how environmental extreme causes economic losses and explore practical approaches to build resilience across the CAREC region.

Key Topics Include:

• The impact of environmental extremes on livestock, agriculture, and household livelihoods
• Economic consequences and financial mechanisms
• Early warning systems and disaster preparedness
• Mitigation and adaptation measures for climate-sensitive sectors
• Long-term investments in resilient infrastructure and natural resource management
• Regional cooperation and solutions under the CAREC Climate Action Plan

About the CAREC Institute Policy Dialogue:

The CAREC Institute Policy Dialogue is a forum that brings together national policymakers, experts, and key stakeholders from the CAREC region and beyond for evidence-based discussions on priority development challenges. Focusing on climate resilience, disaster risk management, and economic vulnerability, this dialogue supports capacity building, knowledge exchange, and actionable policy recommendations. By fostering regional cooperation, the series helps member countries address shared environmental and economic risks.

Participants should register for the policy dialogue through the following link: https://carecinstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uqQT2GZxQjG8rlzAl8zIFQ