Student No.

21077

How is disaster risk reduction linked to sustainable development and climate

change? Where do they come together and diverge?

Centuries have passed since man learned how to use fire and stone to
survive. To use what is available in their surroundings and established
civilizations that still mesmerize us up to this date. To use raw materials from the
earth and to create new things that fostered progress.

Progress an idea that hypnotized humankind to continue building and to

continue exploiting the earths resources. Too keen with the goal of advancement
and to gain, humankind lost track of the consequences of exploiting the gift of
nature thus at present the world is experiencing change towards devastation and
destruction.

Realizing the damage humans caused to this world, countries started to

convene and plan how to take a path towards a better and safer future. As a
result, the conventions gave birth to an agreement for climate change,
sustainable development and disaster risk reduction.

Over the recent decades, the impacts of disaster have rapidly risen
affecting nearly all sectors, rich and poor countries alike. 1 According to the
Annual Disaster Statistical Review (2012), in 2011 losses reached a record of 371
billion USD which affects several hundred million people. 2 Although the amount is
high, still this does not include knock-on impacts across economies and
underrates the relative economic impact on individuals particularly, poor
households. In other regions, there are still unreported events which are major
source of aggregate loss, most especially in developing countries and poor
communities.3 The concern in this disaster-damaged livelihoods and economics

1 "Disaster Risk Reduction And Sustainable Development".

http://www.preventionweb.net/files/35831_35831irdricsubriefdrrsd5b15d1.pdf.
N.p., 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2017.

2 (a) Annual Disaster Statistical Review 2012: The numbers and trends. Debarati
Guha-Sapir, Philippe Hoyois and Regina Below. Centre for Research on the
Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). (b) UNISDR, 2013. Disaster statistics.
http://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/disaster-statistics .
can spearhead the further excessive exposure, susceptibility and loss, blocked
escapes from poverty and negative spirals of development failure. 4

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change

Climate change contributes in the increase in disaster risk, ergo disaster

risk management becomes a vital and urgent component of any climate change
adaptation program.5 As part of climate change adaptation policies, countries
need to focus on reducing their vulnerability and planning for measures to
mitigate natural risks.6

Today, disaster risk reduction measures are widely accepted solutions that
will play an important role in coping with the projected weather-and-climate
related hazards like storms, hurricanes, earthquakes including sea-level rise. 7
The answer is to identify and recognize the existing risk and provide good
management of this risks, whether from climate change, globalization or
development. Policies must address monitoring risks, reducing exposure and
8
vulnerability and advancing resilience and sustainability.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development

Disasters are challenges to sustainable development, such events result in loss

of life, injury and sometimes life-changing consequences. Also, such occurrences
result to destruction of social and economic infrastructures as well as damaging
the natural environment.9 These direct and physical loses have further indirect
consequences, disrupting livelihoods, education, access to health care, and so

3 (a) Bull-Kamanga, L. et al. 2003. From everyday hazards to disasters: the

accumulation of risk in urban areas, Environment and Urbanization, 15 (1), 193-
203. (b) Also refer to Endnote 2(b).

4 Supra Note 1.

5 Pollner, John. "Disaster Risk Management And Climate Change Adaptation In

Europe And Central Asia".
https://www.gfdrr.org/sites/gfdrr/files/publication/GFDRR_DRM_and_CCA_ECA.pdf.
Web. 3 Mar. 2017.

6 Supra Note 5.

7 Id.

8 Id.
forth, collectively leading to adverse secondary impacts on social and economic
aggregates such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the balance of payments
and budget deficits. Statistics show that analysis for the pacific islands, for
instance, concluded that damage and losses equivalent to 1% of GDP leading a
0.3 % drop in the GDP growth on average over a 10 year-period. 10

Basically, disasters become a hurdle to efforts in reducing property. They can

force near-poor below the poverty line and contribute to more persistent, chronic
poverty. It is to note, that the poorest members of society are the most ill
equipped to cope with disaster losses. This could also cause a domino effect to
other aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals like, fewer may be able to
afford access to medical care in the aftermath of the disaster, that result to long-
term impacts on health. Education is also placed in a halt. One research in Nepal
shows that, disasters physically prevent children from reaching schools, failure of
the household to meet the cost of daily living, in the end the children are forced
to be transferred to income-generating activities to supplement household
earnings.11

Disasters may also lead to a long-term consequence for gender inequality, a

study conducted in the Philippines showed a disproportionate increase in female
infant mortality rate in the years after exposure to a typhoon due to deterioration
in economic conditions and continuous female infant nutritional intake and
health care.12

9 "Promoting Sustainable Development Through Disaster Risk Management".

https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/182652/sdwp-041.pdf. N.p.,
2016. Web. 3 Mar. 2017.

10 Cabezon, E., L. Hunter, P. Tumbarello, K. Washimi, and Y. Wu. 2015. Enhancing

Macroeconomic Resilience to Natural Disasters and Climate Change in the Small
States of the Pacific. IMF Working Paper WP/15/125. Washington, DC:
International Monetary Fund.

11 Gautam, D. and K. Oswald. 2008. Child Voices: Children of Nepal Speak Out on
Climate Change Adaptation. Research Report. Children in a Changing Climate.
http://www.childreninachanging climate.org/database/ids/Publications/Child
%20Voices_np.pdf

12 Anttila-Hughes, J.K. and S.M. Hsiang. 2013. Destruction, Disinvestment, and

Death: Economic and Human Losses Following Environmental Disaster. 18
February 2013. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2220501
Countries at lower levels of human development, in particular with higher levels
of poverty, are likely to suffer especially large socioeconomic setbacks as a
consequence of disasters. Higher levels of poverty typically imply higher levels of
vulnerability to natural hazards. 13 The poor are also likely to face more prolonged
periods of post-disaster recovery, reflecting lower savings and more limited
access to insurance and formal credit with which to replace destroyed assets. 14
The threat of hazard can also influence long-term behavior, in some cases
reinforcing poverty via deliberate risk-averting livelihood choices 15

The Crossroad: Disaster Risk Reduction, Sustainable Development and

Climate Change

The new policies for Disaster Risk Reduction are recognized in the Sustainable
Development Goals. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015
2030, as adopted by 187 United Nations (UN) member states at the Third World
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, states that while disasters significantly
impede progress towards sustainable development, conversely effective disaster
risk management contributes to sustainable development. 16

The document adopted in Addis Abba during the Third International

Conference on Financing for Development in July 2015, recognized that
development finance contribution can contribute toa reduction vulnerability and
encourages consideration of climate and disaster resilience in development
financing to ensure the sustainability of development results. 17

Lastly, and most essential- the SDGs adopted at the UN Sustainable

Development Summit in September 2015 explicitly targets risk reduction under 4
of its 17 goals. The relevant goals focus on ending poverty (Goal 1); ending
hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting

13 Supra Note 9.

14 World Bank. 2007. Philippines: Agriculture Public Expenditure Review.

Technical Working Paper 40493. Washington, DC: World Bank

15 Id.

16 2015a. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 20152030. New York:
United Nations.

17 2015b. Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on

Financing for Development. New York: United Nations
sustainable agriculture (Goal 2); making cities and human settlements inclusive,
safe, resilient and sustainable (Goal 11); and taking urgent action to combat
climate change and its impacts (Goal 13).18

18 2015c. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development. New York: United Nations.