Natural Hazards Governance in South Asia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihir Bhatt ◽  
Kelsey Gleason ◽  
Ronak B. Patel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Asian Countries

South Asia is faced with a range of natural hazards, including floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis. Rapid and unplanned urbanization, environmental degradation, climate change, and socioeconomic conditions are increasing citizens’ exposure to and risk from natural hazards and resulting in more frequent, intense, and costly disasters. Although governments and the international community are investing in disaster risk reduction, natural hazard governance in South Asian countries remain weak and often warrants a review when a major natural disaster strikes. Natural hazards governance is an emerging concept, and many countries in South Asia have a challenging hazard governance context.

scholarly journals Natural hazards and climate change are not drivers of disasters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alik Ismail-Zadeh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Time Dependent

AbstractMany nations face challenges in assessing, understanding, and responding to the time-dependent nature of disaster risk. Changes in the intensity of occurrences of extreme events coupled with changes in vulnerability and exposure alter the impacts of natural hazards on society in mostly negative ways. Here an interrelationship between natural hazard (NH), climate change (CC), vulnerability (V), exposure (E), and decisionmaking (DM) is considered. While NHs trigger disasters and CC is likely to intensify occurrences of disasters, V and E present major drivers of disasters. Informed DM on disaster risk reduction should be based on scientific evidence from NH and CC, knowledge of V and E, and relevant options for actions on preventive disaster measures as a part of preparedness and public awareness.

Multiple-hazards and their interactions in urban low-to-middle income countries: a case study from Nairobi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D. Malamud ◽  
Emmah Mwangi ◽  
Joel Gill ◽  
Ekbal Hussain ◽  
Faith Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Soil Subsidence ◽  
Ground Collapse

<p>Global policy frameworks, such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, increasingly advocate for multi-hazard approaches across different spatial scales. However, management approaches on the ground are still informed by siloed approaches based on one single natural hazard (e.g. flood, earthquake, snowstorm). However, locations are rarely subjected to a single natural hazard but rather prone to more than one. These different hazards and their interactions (e.g. one natural hazard triggering or increasing the probability of one or more natural hazards), together with exposure and vulnerability, shape the disaster landscape of a given region and associated disaster impact.  Here, as part of the UK GCRF funded research grant “Tomorrow’s Cities” we first map out the single natural hazardscape for Nairobi using evidence collected through peer-reviewed literature, grey literature, social media and newspapers. We find the following hazard groups and hazard types present in Nairobi: (i) geophysical (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides), (ii) hydrological (floods and droughts), (iii) shallow earth processes (regional subsidence, ground collapse, soil subsidence, ground heave), (iv) atmospheric hazards (storm, hail, lightning, extreme heat, extreme cold), (v) biophysical (urban fires), and vi) space hazards (geomatic storms, and impact events). The breadth of single natural hazards that can potentially impact Nairobi is much larger than normally considered by individual hazard managers that work in Nairobi. We then use a global hazard matrix to identify possible hazard interactions, focusing on the following interaction mechanisms: (i) hazard triggering secondary hazard, (ii) hazards amplifying the possibility of the secondary hazard occurring.  We identify 67 possible interactions, as well as some of the interaction cascade typologies that are typical for Nairobi (e.g. a storm triggers and increases the probability of a flood which in turn increases the probability of a flood). Our results indicate a breadth of natural hazards and their interactions in Nairobi, and emphasise a need for a multi-hazard approach to disaster risk reduction.</p>

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihir Bhatt ◽  
Ronak B. Patel ◽  
Kelsey Gleason ◽  
Mehul Pandya
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
The Impact

Both the impact and the frequency of natural disasters and extreme events in South Asia are steadily increasing due to growing exposure and vulnerability. These vulnerabilities are compounded by fast economic growth and an increase in natural disasters across the region. Disaster losses in South Asia are rising and are felt across many domains. From the formal to the informal economy, natural disasters have increasingly strong impacts in terms of lives lost, social impact, and impediments to growth. New challenges in disaster risk reduction are emerging due to an increase in the duration and frequency of natural disaster events attributable to climate change. Though both climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts exist to some degree throughout South Asia, integrating climate change adaptation into disaster risk reduction is critical to successful and inclusive growth of economies in the region. Challenges remain, and national and subnational governments are making some progress in policies aimed at both climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. However, many of these efforts are planned, designed, and implemented separately, with limited understanding of how disaster and climate risk are linked. Moreover, progress is hindered by poor understanding of how integration of these concepts can result in better governance of risk in South Asia. Additionally, political will, capacity constraints, and institutional barriers must be overcome. Efforts by the international community are making progress in unifying these concepts, yet gaps and challenges still exist. The benefits of converging climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Asia are significant, from minimizing climate-related losses to more efficient use of limited resources and more effective and sustainable development.

Climate change and women in South Asia: a review and future policy implications

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-166
Author(s):  
Sangram Kishor Patel ◽  
Gopal Agrawal ◽  
Bincy Mathew ◽  
Sunita Patel ◽  
Biswajit Mohanty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Policy

Purpose South Asian region is a focal point owing to its vulnerabilities to climate-sensitive diseases, dependence on climate-sensitive livelihoods, projected levels of crop decline in the region, and high rates of poverty and malnutrition. Women are particularly vulnerable to climate change and this affects women disproportionately during different extreme events. The purpose of this paper is to understand the issue of climate change and its impact, and climate resilience among women in South Asia. Further, it also identifies the gaps and suggests future policy implications. Design/methodology/approach Climate change is increasingly being recognised as an alarming issue and the present review is important when South Asian countries are facing the brunt of climate change impacts. This paper tries to understand the issue by review of the literature and conceptual framework methodology. To understand women’s vulnerability due to climate change and its aftermath, the authors conducted both offline and online desk reviews for this study. Findings The findings of this study show a clear linkage between climate change and women’s vulnerabilities in South Asia. Climate change has significant socio-economic impacts on women, and it affects them disproportionately in various domains of agriculture, livelihood, food security, both physical and mental health, water and sanitation in the South Asia region. Practical implications The paper also highlights that the programmes that aim at combating the effects of climate change require a gender-sensitive approach so that climate change does not obstruct the development and reduction of poverty in the region. Social implications The findings of this paper will add value in helping families to come out of poverty by undertaking adaptive measures with proactive assistance from the government and grassroots level organisations. Originality/value The present study also advocates for more gender- and climate-sensitive measures from governments, and implementation of intervention- and evidence-based research in the South Asian countries.

South Asia will focus on easing impact of large floods

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Risk Maps ◽  
Large Floods

Significance India and Pakistan face a higher risk of heatwaves. Rising average temperatures may be linked to increased monsoon-related emergencies in South Asia. Impacts India will likely exceed its intended nationally determined contribution targets arising from the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference. Declining living standards due to climate change could raise migratory pressures across South Asia. South Asian countries will increasingly use drone technology to create risk maps charting climate change.

Natural Hazards and Their Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewald van Niekerk ◽  
Livhuwani David Nemakonde
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Hazard Management ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Sub Saharan

The sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, along with the rest of the African continent, is prone to a wide variety of natural hazards. Most of these hazards and the associated disasters are relatively silent and insidious, encroaching on life and livelihoods, increasing social, economic, and environmental vulnerability even to moderate events. With the majority of SSA’s disasters being of hydrometeorological origin, climate change through an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events is likely to exacerbate the situation. Whereas a number of countries in SSA face significant governance challenges to effectively respond to disasters and manage risk reduction measures, considerable progress has been made since the early 2000s in terms of policies, strategies, and/or institutional mechanisms to advance disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management. As such, most countries in SSA have developed/reviewed policies, strategies, and plans and put in place institutions with dedicated staffs and resources for natural hazard management. However, the lack of financial backing, limited skills, lack of coordination among sectors, weak political leadership, inadequate communication, and shallow natural hazard risk assessment, hinders effective natural hazard management in SSA. The focus here is on the governance of natural hazards in the sub-Saharan Africa region, and an outline of SSA’s natural hazard profile is presented. Climate change is increasing the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, thus influencing the occurrence of natural hazards in this region. Also emphasized are good practices in natural hazard governance, and SSA’s success stories are described. Finally, recommendations on governance arrangements for effective implementation of disaster risk reduction initiatives and measures are provided.

scholarly journals Brief communication: Strengthening coherence between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction through policies, methods and practices in Europe

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Mysiak ◽  
Sergio Castellari ◽  
Blaz Kurnik ◽  
Rob Swart ◽  
Patrick Pringle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Climate Risk Management

Abstract. Reducing natural hazard risks and adapting to climate change are ever more important policy goals. Sound climate risk management will lessen the impacts of disaster risks and contribute to boosting resilience. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction have to some extent been mainstreamed into international and national policies but it is important to ensure that the resulting efforts are consistent and mutually supportive. The EEA report »Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Europe: enhancing coherence of the knowledge base, policies and practices« identifies several ways how the coherence between CCA and DRR can be promoted.

scholarly journals Innovative practices for the promotion of local/indigenous knowledge for disaster risk reduction management in Sudur Paschim Province, Nepal

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kabi Prasad Pokhrel ◽  
Shambhu Prasad Khatiwada ◽  
Narayan Prasad Paudel ◽  
Keshav Raj Dhakal ◽  
Chhabilal Chidi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Disaster Risk

This study is an attempt to point out the variety of natural hazards, such as landslides, droughts, soil erosion, earthquakes, lightening and floods in Sudur Paschim province of Nepal which are exacerbated by environmental degradation processes such as deforestation, desertification, biodiversity loss, soil crisp and watershed degradation. The study was  carried out using participatory approach and process for collecting information, established methods and techniques to identify the hazard prone area with type and intensity  and multi criteria evaluation method to prioritize replicable actions with   location -specific innovative practices and their  legitimization  for integrating local and indigenous knowledge into  science and technology through educational policy and assessment to incorporate local and indigenous knowledge as live science in disaster and climate change education. Findings of the study reveal that varieties of natural hazards in combination with social factors such as poverty, conflict and inequality and these events and processes result in frequent disasters. When threatened by a hazard, indigenous communities respond by making use of all this knowledge and practices, which has evolved over generations, and continue to adapt to future changes. However, these traditional, often faith-based, beliefs and practices are embedded in their day-today lives are key to their resilience in the face of natural hazards. Many communities are concerned that this knowledge might be lost as the elderly die without transferring it to younger members of the community due to lack of proper educational policy and strategic development plans and have not properly addressed natural hazards and socio-economic vulnerability by coping local/indigenous knowledge into practices. Indigenous and traditional knowledge is a precious national resource that can support the process of disaster prevention, preparedness and response in cost-effective disaster risk reduction. Asa suggestive measures, ,findings of the study forwarded  some policy issues in the context of disaster risk reduction local practices and their need to integrate mainstreaming educational programs with producing tools for integrating local and indigenous knowledge with science; and develop information, education and communication that promote local/ indigenous knowledge for the multi hazard risk reduction and climate change adaptation in mostly vulnerable locations of Sudur Paschim Province, Nepal. 

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