GAR 2015 Main Report

237

Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) published by the IPCC in 2012 addressed how critical disaster risk management is to climate change adaptation.

In 2012, member states of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) were asked to use HFA Priority for Action 4 as guidance on how to strengthen “nature-based” disaster risk management in their environmental policies and practices ( GAR 13 paper

UNEP, 2014

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2014,Disaster risk reduction is an integral objective of environment related policies and plans, including for land use natural resource management and adaptation to climate change, Background Paper prepared for the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR..
Click here to view this GAR paper.

). At the same time, a growing number of regional frameworks highlight the need to take disaster risk into account in environmental management and vice versa (ibid.).

There have also been successes in evaluation and planning. For example, the overwhelming majority of HFA progress reports for 2013 (a total of 94) confirmed that disaster risk considerations have been integrated into environmental impact assessments (EIAs; UNISDR, 2013b

UNISDR. 2013b,Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, Summary of Reports 2007-2013. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. .

). New frameworks have been developed that merge disaster risk considerations in practice with the application of EIAs and strategic environmental assessments (SEAs), such as the ten-step guide produced by the Caribbean Development Bank or the use of EIAs to climate-proof projects in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands (Agrawala et al., 2010

Agrawala, Shardul, Arnoldo Matus Kramer, Guillaume Prudent-Richard and Sainsbury, Marcus. 2010,Incorporating climate change impacts and adaptation in Environmental Impact Assessments: Opportunities and Challenges, OECD Environmental Working Paper No. 24. Paris: OECD Publishing.. .

;

UNEP, 2014

). In Sri Lanka, the government used the SEA approach to develop a comprehensive sustainable development framework for the reconstruction of the Northern Province, taking into account major hazards such as storm surges, flooding, tsunami and sea level rise ( GAR 13 paper

PEDRR, 2010

PEDRR (Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction). 2010,Demonstrating the Role of Ecosystems-based Management for Disaster Risk Reduction, Background Paper prepared for the 2011 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR..
Click here to view this GAR paper.

Due to the absence of consistent output indicators, it is more difficult to measure how much of this progress at the policy level has translated into meaningful practice. However, anecdotal evidence paints a picture of growing momentum in some areas and challenges in others.

Climate change

Climate change has emerged as a sector in itself at the national, regional and international levels,

with its own institutional arrangements, global framework and funding mechanisms. Since the formulation of the Nairobi Work Programme at the Conference of the Parties in 2006, a plethora of strategies, frameworks and funding mechanisms has certainly created the impression of convergence and coherence of climate change agendas with those of disaster risk reduction and sustainable development ( GAR 13 paper

UNEP, 2014

However, this impression contrasts with a lack of true institutional and practical integration ( GAR 13 paper

SEI, 2014

SEI (Stockholm Environment Institute). 2014,Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, Background Paper prepared for the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR..
Click here to view this GAR paper.

). Several countries, such as the Philippines, Viet Nam and others in the Pacific region, have managed to take the opportunity to effectively merge regulation and technical guidelines as well as national policy frameworks and budgets for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. However, those countries remain the minority, and most national policies, while citing the respective other domain, maintain distinct boundaries in concepts, plans, methodologies, reporting lines, responsibilities, budgets and other areas (ibid.).

At the same time, a large number of climate change adaptation projects have strong disaster risk reduction components even though they are not labelled as such (UNISDR, 2009a

UNISDR. 2009a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Risk and Poverty in a Changing Climate, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. .

). In addition, the climate change sector has probably had far more political influence at all levels than the disaster risk reduction sector itself. In fact, it is likely that the disaster risk reduction sector profits from the momentum generated by the climate change sector, even if the two are still weakly integrated in practice.

Environmental management

A number of approaches and tools in environmental management now take explicit account of disaster risk. For example, integrated water resource management integrates disaster risk considerations into the management of excess supply and/or scarcity of water ( GAR 13 paper

UNEP, 2014

). The European Union’s Floods Directive and the

	237 Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) published by the IPCC in 2012 addressed how critical disaster risk management is to climate change adaptation. In 2012, member states of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) were asked to use HFA Priority for Action 4 as guidance on how to strengthen “nature-based” disaster risk management in their environmental policies and practices (UNEP, 2014 x UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2014,Disaster risk reduction is an integral objective of environment related policies and plans, including for land use natural resource management and adaptation to climate change, Background Paper prepared for the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. Click here to view this GAR paper. ). At the same time, a growing number of regional frameworks highlight the need to take disaster risk into account in environmental management and vice versa (ibid.). There have also been successes in evaluation and planning. For example, the overwhelming majority of HFA progress reports for 2013 (a total of 94) confirmed that disaster risk considerations have been integrated into environmental impact assessments (EIAs; UNISDR, 2013b x UNISDR. 2013b,Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, Summary of Reports 2007-2013. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. . ). New frameworks have been developed that merge disaster risk considerations in practice with the application of EIAs and strategic environmental assessments (SEAs), such as the ten-step guide produced by the Caribbean Development Bank or the use of EIAs to climate-proof projects in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands (Agrawala et al., 2010 x Agrawala, Shardul, Arnoldo Matus Kramer, Guillaume Prudent-Richard and Sainsbury, Marcus. 2010,Incorporating climate change impacts and adaptation in Environmental Impact Assessments: Opportunities and Challenges, OECD Environmental Working Paper No. 24. Paris: OECD Publishing.. . ; UNEP, 2014 x UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2014,Disaster risk reduction is an integral objective of environment related policies and plans, including for land use natural resource management and adaptation to climate change, Background Paper prepared for the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. Click here to view this GAR paper. ). In Sri Lanka, the government used the SEA approach to develop a comprehensive sustainable development framework for the reconstruction of the Northern Province, taking into account major hazards such as storm surges, flooding, tsunami and sea level rise (PEDRR, 2010 x PEDRR (Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction). 2010,Demonstrating the Role of Ecosystems-based Management for Disaster Risk Reduction, Background Paper prepared for the 2011 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. Click here to view this GAR paper. ). Due to the absence of consistent output indicators, it is more difficult to measure how much of this progress at the policy level has translated into meaningful practice. However, anecdotal evidence paints a picture of growing momentum in some areas and challenges in others. Climate change Climate change has emerged as a sector in itself at the national, regional and international levels, with its own institutional arrangements, global framework and funding mechanisms. Since the formulation of the Nairobi Work Programme at the Conference of the Parties in 2006, a plethora of strategies, frameworks and funding mechanisms has certainly created the impression of convergence and coherence of climate change agendas with those of disaster risk reduction and sustainable development (UNEP, 2014 x UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2014,Disaster risk reduction is an integral objective of environment related policies and plans, including for land use natural resource management and adaptation to climate change, Background Paper prepared for the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. Click here to view this GAR paper. ). However, this impression contrasts with a lack of true institutional and practical integration (SEI, 2014 x SEI (Stockholm Environment Institute). 2014,Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, Background Paper prepared for the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. Click here to view this GAR paper. ). Several countries, such as the Philippines, Viet Nam and others in the Pacific region, have managed to take the opportunity to effectively merge regulation and technical guidelines as well as national policy frameworks and budgets for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. However, those countries remain the minority, and most national policies, while citing the respective other domain, maintain distinct boundaries in concepts, plans, methodologies, reporting lines, responsibilities, budgets and other areas (ibid.). At the same time, a large number of climate change adaptation projects have strong disaster risk reduction components even though they are not labelled as such (UNISDR, 2009a x UNISDR. 2009a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Risk and Poverty in a Changing Climate, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. . ). In addition, the climate change sector has probably had far more political influence at all levels than the disaster risk reduction sector itself. In fact, it is likely that the disaster risk reduction sector profits from the momentum generated by the climate change sector, even if the two are still weakly integrated in practice. Environmental management A number of approaches and tools in environmental management now take explicit account of disaster risk. For example, integrated water resource management integrates disaster risk considerations into the management of excess supply and/or scarcity of water (UNEP, 2014 x UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2014,Disaster risk reduction is an integral objective of environment related policies and plans, including for land use natural resource management and adaptation to climate change, Background Paper prepared for the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. Click here to view this GAR paper. ). The European Union’s Floods Directive and the	Page 1 Page 10 Page 20 Page 30 Page 40 Page 50 Page 60 Page 70 Page 80 Page 90 Page 100 Page 110 Page 120 Page 130 Page 140 Page 150 Page 160 Page 170 Page 180 Page 190 Page 200 Page 210 Page 220 Page 227 Page 228 Page 229 Page 230 Page 231 Page 232 Page 233 Page 234 Page 235 Page 236 Page 237 Page 238 ->Page 239 Page 240 Page 241 Page 242 Page 243 Page 244 Page 245 Page 246 Page 247 Page 248 Page 249 Page 250 Page 251 Page 260 Page 270 Page 280 Page 290 Page 300 Page 310