Disaster risk and climate change

Disaster risk reduction efforts are guided by the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, to which the world’s Governments agreed in Hyogo, Kobe, Japan, in 2005. The Hyogo Framework aims for “the substantial reduction of disaster losses, in lives and in the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries.”

Disaster risk reduction is a critical component of climate change adaptation, and both share the same ultimate goal of reducing vulnerability to weather- and climate-related hazards. The Hyogo Framework calls on countries to reduce underlying risks by integrating risk reduction measures and climate change adaptation. As part of the Hyogo Framework, Governments have agreed to integrate climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction by:

• identifying climate-related disaster risks,
• designing specific risk reduction measures, and
• improving the routine use of climate risk information by planners, engineers and other decision-makers.

In 2011, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release a Special Report on “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation.” This report will help policy-makers evaluate options for reducing disaster risks related to climate change.

In many cases, simple structural measures can generate both short- and long-term benefits to climate variability and change:

1. By bracing and securing roof trusses and walls, property owners in the US Gulf States suffered only one eighth of the damages from Hurricane Katrina compared to those who did not implement such measures. A combined investment of $2.5 million helped these property owners avoid $500 million in damages (Stern et al. 2006).
   
   
   The Philippines after the 2009 typhoon season Credit: Photo by IFRC
   
   
2. The Philippines is among the most disaster-prone countries. Every year, the country is exposed to numerous powerful tropical cyclones, and it also suffers from periodic droughts. In 2009, the tropical storms Ketsana and Parma caused hundreds of casualties and severe damage to housing and other property. In response to concern about increasing disaster risks arising from climate change, the Philippines Government enacted new legislation, called the Climate Change Act of 2009, which integrates disaster risk reduction measures into climate change adaptation plans, development and poverty reduction programmes (UN 2009).