Recovery from Catastrophe and Building Back Better

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1190-1201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuniyoshi Takeuchi ◽  
◽  
Shigenobu Tanaka ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Quick Recovery ◽  
Recovery Trajectory ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Banda Aceh

Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Tohoku cities in Japan and Tacloban, Philippines were all completely destroyed and have recovered or are now recovering from the ocean of debris. Banda Aceh and Tacloban have recovered to a normal state rather quickly within two years or so after the disaster’s occurrence. The Tohoku cities are taking a much longer time and even now, more than 170,000 (March 10, 2016) people are in evacuation houses of various kinds. Such a difference comes from the basic selection of the recovery process, based on the basic policy of reconstruction. Building resilient cities is one of the Sustainable Development Goals with disaster risk reduction targets. In order to build resilient cities, the strategy of building back better, a new focus priority in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, plays a key role. As disasters occur everywhere one after another, recovery processes also take place everywhere after each disaster. Building back better is therefore one of the most practical ways of building resilient cities. Quick recovery has many advantages if it extends to building back better toward resilient cities but in almost all cases as experienced in Banda Aceh and Tacloban, once a city is recovered freely, it is extremely difficult to redesign and gradually install resilience into the city formation. On the other hand, slow recovery and waiting time, as experiencing in Tohoku cities, make people suffer, make local economies difficult to recover, and have high national costs. It is difficult to assess how and under what conditions the cost of such investment may be recovered by building resilient cities with long-term safety. The justification for selecting a recovery trajectory depends on the state of the national economy as well as the safety culture of the nation. Yet more important and practical support for building back better is having a pre-disaster recovery plan prepared before a disaster occurs. In fact, regardless of the availability of official pre-disaster plans, the redevelopment and reform efforts to improve communities in normal times will help promote a swift and effective reconstruction when an unexpected disaster occurs. This was experienced in Tokyo after the Great Kanto Earthquake and after World War II, as well as in many cities in Japan.

scholarly journals Resilience of Bruneian economy amidst Covid-19 based on the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-102
Author(s):  
Hakimah Yaacob ◽  
Qaisar Ali ◽  
Nur Anissa Sarbini ◽  
Abdul Nasir Rani ◽  
Zaki Zaini
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Price Index ◽  
Consumer Price Index ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Economic Recovery ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Merchandise Trade

The outbreak of Covid-19 is the second most devastating event over a century. The pandemic, alongside deep health crises, has ushered the largest economic shocks, which require governments’ attention to ameliorate to avoid an economic downturn. The aim of this study is to measure the economic impacts of Covid-19 in Brunei by estimating the exposure, vulnerability, and resilience of the economy. This study deployed the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction framework to examine the economic impact empirically. The data related to variables of gross domestic product, oil prices, international merchandise trade, tourism, unemployment, consumer price index, money supply, and national accounts were collected from September 2019 to July 2020 and analyzed through the fixed effects panel regression technique. The findings show that the news of the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed the weaknesses in energy sectors by having a significant negative impact. Additionally, analysis discloses that the energy and tourism sectors are vulnerable to the shocks of Covid-19. During the peak of the pandemic outbreak, unemployment in Brunei has also escalated. Additionally, the energy and tourism sectors are less resilient to pandemic shocks. The findings indicated that the consumer price index has significantly escalated during the economic recovery process. The findings elucidate that the overall GDP growth rate, international merchandise trade, and the financial sector continue exhibiting better performance amid Covid-19. The findings of this study contribute to developing policy implications for the emerging economies concerned with the economic recovery process during the pandemic.

scholarly journals Coherence, Alignment and Integration: Understanding the Legal Relationship Between Sustainable Development, Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Dug Cubie ◽  
Tommaso Natoli
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
International Law ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
International Norms ◽  
The Sustainable Development

AbstractInternational law can play an important role in promoting national, regional and international actions to tackle the human impacts of climate change and disasters. Of note, 2015 saw the adoption of three interconnected normative frameworks: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One may therefore be tempted to view this body of international norms, rules and standards as a comprehensive and unified system. Yet the increasing complexity and specialisation of different international legal regimes has led to concerns regarding a confusing fragmentation of international law. This chapter will therefore examine the relationship between the three topics of sustainable development, climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) from a legal perspective. The chapter will commence with a discussion of the legal status of different international instruments, before providing a textual analysis of the language used by states, the UN, NGOs and other actors in the relevant documents. We then propose an ‘hourglass’ model of the legal relationships between these three different international frameworks based on: systemic coherence at the international level; vertical alignment between the international, regional and national levels; and horizontal integration of international norms at the domestic level. To support this proposal, examples will be provided from the Pacific Island Countries (PICs), drawing on research undertaken through the IRC-MSCA CAROLINE project ‘Leave No One Behind: Developing Climate-Smart/Disaster Risk Management Laws that Protect People in Vulnerable Situations for a Comprehensive Implementation of the UN Agenda 2030.’

scholarly journals Sectoral and Livelihood Vulnerability to Climate Risk in Indian Himalaya: A Case Study of Almora District of Uttarakhand

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Climatic Data ◽  
Indian Himalaya ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Almost All

Climate change impacts the society by aggravating related hazards. India, due to its varied geographical and climatic attributes and diverse socio-economic reasons, faces almost all kinds of disasters distantly or closely related to change in climates. Regions of Indian Himalaya, especially in Uttarakhand, are known to suffer the brunt of climate or water related disasters very frequently e.g. 2013’s devastating flash flood at Kedarnath, Uttarakhand. India is a signatory of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and has hosted the 7 th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) and organized its 2nd National Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) during recent years (2015, 2016). These policy regimes advocate climate resilient development through policy planning and grassroots implementation of programmes. Objective of this study is to analyze climatic data projections and risks with regard to extreme events in Almora District, Uttarakhand, India, through learning sectoral and livelihood vulnerabilities of this region. Methodology involved policy and vulnerability analysis through structured and semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussion and shared learning, with key line Departments and key stakeholders. Study revealed a range of precipitation and temperature level changes and linkages with increase in disaster related losses and damages. Key Sectoral Vulnerabilities & livelihood challenges have been identified in the Almora District. Paper suggests a policy analysis framework and integration of climate resilience and disaster management into development paradigms through plans, policies and processes of key sectors and departments.

scholarly journals Reflecting Disaster Risk in Development Indicators

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junko Mochizuki ◽  
Asjad Naqvi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
National Level ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Global Agenda

Disasters triggered by hazards, such as floods, earthquakes, droughts, and cyclones, pose significant impediments to sustainable development efforts in the most vulnerable and exposed countries. Mainstreaming disaster risk is hence seen as an important global agenda as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015–2030. Yet, conventional development indicators remain largely negligent of the potential setbacks that may be posed by disaster risk. This article discusses the need to reflect disaster risk in development indicators and proposes a concept disaster risk-adjusted human development index (RHDI) as an example. Globally available national-level datasets of disaster risk to public and private assets (including health, educational facilities, and private housing) is combined with an estimate of expenditure on health, education, and capital formation to construct an RHDI. The RHDI is then analyzed across various regions and HDI groups, and contrasted with other HDI variants including inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) and the gender-specific female HDI (FHDI) to identify groups of countries where transformational disaster risk reduction (DRR) approaches may be necessary.

scholarly journals How Are Disaster Risk Reduction Activities in Indonesian Villages Financed?

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 797
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fauzan Nur ◽  
M Dirhamsyah ◽  
Heru Fahlevi
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Total Budget ◽  
The Village ◽  
Banda Aceh

This study aimed to analyses how villages finances their Disaster Risk Reduction Activities in 5 villages in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Data was collected through document analysis and interviews. The period of data collection is from January to April 2019. The interviewees are head of villages, representatives from disaster agencies and representatives of institutions that provide funding to villages. The data is analyzed by using qualitative method. The results of the study unveil that the studied villages in Syiah Kuala sub-district had allocated village budgets for DRR activities, although the amount was very small compared to the total budget received in the current year (less than one percent). The main source of funding is the village fund.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document