Insurance Fund as an Adaptation Measure for Increasing Water Security in Basins Under Change

Author(s):  
Gabriela Gesualdo ◽  
Felipe Souza ◽  
Eduardo Mendiondo

<p>Extreme weather events are increasingly evident and widespread around the world due to climate change. These events are driven by rising temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns, which lead to changes in flood frequency, drought and water availability. To reduce the future impacts of natural disasters, it is crucial to understand the spatiotemporal variability of social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities related to natural disasters. Particularly, developing countries are more vulnerable to climate risks due to their greater economic dependence on climate-sensitive primary activities, infrastructure, finance and other factors that undermine successful adaptation. In this concept, adaptation plays the role of anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate measures to prevent or minimize the damage they may cause. Thus, the insurance fund is a valuable adaptation tool for unexpected losses reimbursement, long-term impacts prevention and encouraging risk mitigation. Although this approach is successful throughout the world and major organizations support insurance as an adaptation measure, the Brazilian insurance fund only provides support for rural landowners. Thus, we will evaluate the implementation of an indexed multi-risk insurance fund integrated with water security parameters, as an instrument for adaptation to climate change. We will use the SWAT+, a hydrosedimentological model, to assess the current conditions and future scenarios (up to 2100) of water security indices considering two International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Then, we will incorporate those parameters to the Hydrological Risk Transfer Model (MTRH). Our results will provide optimized premium in current and future scenarios for supporting adaptation plans to climate change. Furthermore, to contribute to technical-scientific information addressing possible effects of climate change on the hydrometeorological variables and their spatiotemporal variability.</p>

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1385
Author(s):  
Irais Mora-Ochomogo ◽  
Marco Serrato ◽  
Jaime Mora-Vargas ◽  
Raha Akhavan-Tabatabaei

Natural disasters represent a latent threat for every country in the world. Due to climate change and other factors, statistics show that they continue to be on the rise. This situation presents a challenge for the communities and the humanitarian organizations to be better prepared and react faster to natural disasters. In some countries, in-kind donations represent a high percentage of the supply for the operations, which presents additional challenges. This research proposes a Markov Decision Process (MDP) model to resemble operations in collection centers, where in-kind donations are received, sorted, packed, and sent to the affected areas. The decision addressed is when to send a shipment considering the uncertainty of the donations’ supply and the demand, as well as the logistics costs and the penalty of unsatisfied demand. As a result of the MDP a Monotone Optimal Non-Decreasing Policy (MONDP) is proposed, which provides valuable insights for decision-makers within this field. Moreover, the necessary conditions to prove the existence of such MONDP are presented.


Author(s):  
Mali‘o Kodis ◽  
Marci Bortman ◽  
Sarah Newkirk

AbstractAs climate change accelerates the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, damage to public and private property is also increasing, putting exorbitant strain on governments and communities. Societies across the world are working to adapt to climate change, but climate adaptation is currently inadequate to meet the needs of the people left increasingly vulnerable and the places that risk being irreversibly changed or destroyed. One tactic of climate adaptation is strategic retreat, sometimes referred to as managed retreat. Strategic retreat is the process by which the government or another entity purchases (buys out) developed properties that are at risk of destruction or have been destroyed by natural disasters. The structure is most often demolished, and the land is placed under a permanent easement to prevent future development. What happens next is dependent on the entities involved in the buyouts, and can range from derelict, vacant lots to full restoration of ecosystems and their abilities to mitigate flood damage. Sometimes recreational amenities, such as trails or park infrastructure, are prioritized and funded as well. Conservation organizations can leverage their expertise in conservation planning, land acquisition and restoration, policy advocacy, and partnership development to improve the implementation of strategic retreat so that nature and people can thrive in the long term. In this policy paper, we review ways that conservation organizations have and can continue to engage in buyout processes to ensure positive outcomes for communities and nature. Conservation organizations must also evolve their approaches to climate adaptation to integrate equity and redress historical injustices in land use, and contribute towards improving strategic retreat for a more just and resilient future across disaster-prone communities. This work focuses on the context of disasters and climate adaptation in the USA, though many of the principles presented are applicable around the world.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.H. Glantz

The notion of «the water world we want» is a spin-off of the United Nations campaign The World We Want. It is open to subjective interpretation, as people have different perceptions of a desired future. Each person or organization is likely to identify their own set of key concerns: food, clean (uncontaminated) water, sustained agricultural productivity, sustainable use of land and ocean resources, healthy lives and secure livelihoods. But whatever utopian world view one creates, it cannot be achieved without adequate sustained water supplies.In 2009, the then United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon noted: It is well known that water is life; what this Report shows is that water also means livelihoods. It is the route out of poverty for individuals and communities. Managing water is essential if the world is to achieve sustainable development.This challenge is even more pressing as the world confronts the triple threats of climate change, rising food and energy costs, and the global economic crisis. All three are exacerbating poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.It is apparent that climate, water and weather-related concerns are mounting. Societies are becoming increasingly aware that impacts of extreme hydrometeorological events expected to occur in, say, the 2050s are starting to appear decades earlier. These extreme events — related to climate change — are likely to increase in frequency, intensity and severity. 


Author(s):  
Tünde Anna Kovács ◽  
Zoltán Nyikes

In today's world, critical infrastructure encompasses facilities vital to the economy, politics, and population. Their maintenance and safe operation can ensure the supply for the population. These facilities are at risk due to climate change, natural disasters, terror attacks, or wars which are increasingly affecting countries around the world. In addition, the human factor can also cause uncertainty and damages. The function of the world depends on human activities. In this chapter the uncertainties in safety and security are introduced. Security is the most important part as it is the critical infrastructure protection and human safety . The important pillars of safety and security and these uncertainties are introduced in this chapter.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasios Danos ◽  
Konstantina Boulouta

This article analyses the profound and rapid climate changes that have taken place worldwide in the past two decades and their effects on modern enterprise. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing strategies to adapt to and counterbalance future impacts of climate change sustainably are among the most pressing needs of the world today. Global temperatures are predicted to continue rising, bringing changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Such climatic events can have a major impact on households, businesses, critical infrastructure and vulnerable sections of society, as well as having a major economic impact. Therefore, society must prepare to cope with living in a changing climate. The effects of a changing climate have considerable impacts on modern enterprises. In some parts of the world, these impacts are increasingly becoming evident.


Author(s):  
Gerhard Berz

Windstorm disasters (including storm surges) account for about one-third of all natural disasters throughout the world (by number, fatalities and economic losses), but for more than two-thirds of the corresponding insured losses. Trend analyses reveal that major windstorm disasters and the losses generated by them have increased drastically in recent decades. Risk partnership between the state, the affected population and the insurance industry assumes a key role with regard to the windstorm hazard. Scientists, engineers and insurers must work together in formulating their requirements and shaping them in such a way that politicians can derive clearly recognizable policy options (e.g. land-use, restrictions, design-code adjustments) from them. Another important aspect is stepping up the efforts being made towards curbing climate change, which will, otherwise, exacerbate the risk in the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Emily Cayford

<p>The world is currently sitting on the brink of a massive upheaval as Climate Change continues to intensify. At this stage, there is no apparent turning back: the only remaining option is to adapt. While many countries are already feeling the effects, the most vulnerable lie within the Pacific Islands.  With 70% of the Samoan population living along their coastline (The World Bank, 2016), the country is identified as one of the most vulnerable Pacific Islands. It is prone to high waves and storm surges, along with tropical cyclones, which destroy livelihoods and housing, as well as claiming lives.  The traditional architecture of Samoa was originally built to withstand such weather events, but has not been adapting to resist the increased cyclone intensity and rising sea levels. The materials and building practices currently used within Samoa do not have the properties to resist these extreme weather events.  Western building practises have been introduced and into the Samoan construction industry, but has not yet successfully been integrated. Combinations of traditional and Western building practises are, instead, resulting in buildings more vulnerable than ever. This issue remains unresolved, with unsuitable housing remaining one of the largest dilemmas currently faced by Samoa’s inhabitants.  Samoa recently graduated from the classification: Least Developed Country, to be classified as a Developing Country (Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience). This places Samoa as one of the more developed nations of the Pacific, therefore encouraging Samoa to take the lead in resilience to the ever imposing effects of Climate Change. Samoa has a close relationship with both New Zealand and Australia and therefore has access to building expertise, education and materials. Why, then, is Samoa so lacking in architectural resilience to the effects of Climate Change?  This paper endeavours to investigate this gap and, in turn provide a potential resolution. These solutions could aid other Pacific countries as well as encouraging further architectural resilience that can then be mirrored by the remaining, vulnerable countries of the Pacific.  This thesis first investigates the question:  “Why has Samoan culture not developed stronger architectural resilience against Climate Change?”  This thesis then evolves to question:  “How can Samoan architecture be hybridised to influence increased architectural resilience against Climate Change?”</p>


Author(s):  
K. Ravi Shankar ◽  
K. Nagasree ◽  
G. Nirmala ◽  
C. A. Rama Rao ◽  
B. M. K. Raju ◽  
...  

The effects of climate change on agriculture are being witnessed all over the world. Rainfed agriculture is likely to be impacted severely in view of its’ high dependency on monsoon, the likelihood of increased extreme weather events due to aberrant behavior of south west monsoon. Anantapur, Akola, Solapur and Bijapur districts in India were selected for the study because, rainfed area is more than irrigated area and rainfall is the most critical factor affecting crop production in these districts. Major perceptions of climate change in the four rainfed study districts were prolonged dry spells, rise in temperatures, and delayed and shorter rains. Major adaptation measures towards climate change in four study districts were insurance, change in planting dates and cropping pattern. Majority of farmers positively agreed with attitude towards climate change statements which augurs well for current and future adaptation actions. As farm-level adaptation becomes an increasingly important across the world, policies at all levels will need to be accounted for appropriate factors, including perceptions and how perceptions affect human behavior and adaptive actions. Adaptation through transformation (in the present study diversify to livestock and work as labor) has the potential to become an inclusive, engaging and empowering process that contributes to alternative and sustainable development pathways which needs to be encouraged. The present findings contribute to research on climate change adaptation decision making both as a function of intra-individual processes such as knowledge, attitudes; and extra-individual factors like policies, infrastructure, information, forecasts etc. along with socio-economic contributory factors which deserve due attention in the light of scaling up adaptations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-95
Author(s):  
Kati Kraehnert ◽  
Daniel Osberghaus ◽  
Christian Hott ◽  
Lemlem Teklegiorgis Habtemariam ◽  
Frank Wätzold ◽  
...  

Abstract Extreme weather events increasingly threaten the economic situation of households and enterprises around the world. Insurance against extreme weather events is among the climate change adaptation instruments that are currently discussed by the policy community. This overview paper provides a synopsis of the state of research on insurance against extreme weather events, outlining advantages and limitations inherent in three main types of insurance: indemnity-based insurance, index-based insurance, and insurance-linked securities. The paper discusses issues related to insurance uptake, distributional effects, misleading incentives and potentially negative side effects, as well as the role of the state.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2S8) ◽  
pp. 1754-1757

Cities across the world are the main contributors to climate change but at the same time they are also the most vulnerable to its consequences. Some of the disastrous impacts of climate change include extreme weather events, periods of extreme heat and cold, high precipitation, floods, strong cyclones and storms. There is a need for urban design guidelines to effectively address the issues of climate chanbe and increase the resilience of cities. One way to adapt to this is through engineered infrastructure. Today nearly 70% of the world live in urban areas and in the next 20 years two billion more people are expected to move to the cities. With increasing urban densification land and buildable areas are going to become increasingly scarce. One possible solution is to build downwards instead of upwards. Underground areas are less susceptible to external influences and have the ability to better withstand natural catastrophes and hence can be sustainable solution for an unpredictable future. This paper will analyze the viability of underground cities through examples from history and existing case studies along with new upcoming proposals and probe how using underground spaces can increase the resilience of future cities


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