This study examines the influence of formal education, as opposed to income, in determining the adaptive capacity for the residents of Rocinha, an informal settlement in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where floods and landslides are recurrent. The research thereby explores the potential of promoting formal education as a way to increase people‟s capacity to cope with adverse climate effects. The information for the study was gathered through observations, interviews with residents and key informants in Rocinha, and literature review. Both statistical and qualitative analyses have been made of the data gathered. The statistical analysis investigates how formal education influences people‟s level of risk, including their coping strategies and the institutional support they receive. In the qualitative analysis, the direct and secondary effects that education may have on risk and people‟s adaptive capacity are explored.