Poe Oo, Intern, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)Nikhil Bugalia, Research Associate, ADBIK E Seetharam, Senior Consulting Specialist for Capacity Building and Training Projects, ADBITetsuya Ikeda, Deputy Director (International Coordination), International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM)Toshio Koike, Executive Director, ICHARM

Frontiers of Water-Related Disaster Management and the Way Forward

briefpolicy

Key Points • Effectivedisasterrisk

management(DRM)requiresscalingeffortstoleveragewaterhazarddataasmuchaspossible.

• Duetothespreadofthecoronavirusdisease(COVID-19)pandemic,disasterriskreductionhasbecomeevenmorechallenging.

• Humancapacitydevelopment(publiceducationandliteracy,empowermentoflocalgovernmentsandcommunityleaders,andmediabriefings)byadequatelyaddressingthelocalknowledgeandwisdomisanecessityforfuturepolicyframeworks.

• Effectivedisasterpreparation,warning,response,andrecoveryarebestmadewhenlocalgovernmentsandorganizationsworkwelltogetherandcoordinatewithorganizationsonthenationallevel.

• EffectivegovernanceisoneofthemostessentialelementsofanoverallDRMstrategy.

• Forfuturedialogues,additionalfocusshouldbeonidentifyingbestpracticesrelatedtousingstate-of-the-arttechnologytoenableefficientgovernancefor DRM.

No. 2020-4 (August)

© 2020 Asian Development Bank InstituteISSN 2411-6734

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Policy Dialogue on Water-Related Disaster Resilience under Climate Change27–28 January 2020Tokyo, Japan

Jointly organized by the Asian Development Bank Institute and the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management. Presentation materials are available at https://events.development.asia/learning-events/adbi-icharm-policy-dialogue-water-related-disaster-resilience-under-climate-change.

Ourworldhasbeenwitnessingaconsistentriseinwater-relateddisastersinrecentyears. Water-related disasters refer to meteorological events such as cyclonesand storms; hydrological events such as floods; and climatological events such asextreme temperatures, drought, and forest fires. Such disasters derail sustainabledevelopment,makingitparamounttoembedwater-relateddisasterresilience intotheSustainableDevelopmentGoals.Thecoronavirusdisease(COVID-19)pandemichasmadedisasterriskreductionevenmorechallenging.

From 2004 to 2018, Asia experienced more than 3,400 water-related disasters.This number was 2.5 times higher compared to the reported numbers recordedpreviously in the15years from1980 to1994.Suchan increase indisasterscanbeseenacrossdevelopedanddevelopingcountriesinSouthandSoutheastAsia,suchasIndonesia,Japan,Myanmar,thePhilippines,andSriLanka.Thesedisastersarealsoassociatedwithhugeeconomiclosses.Therelevantwater-relateddisastersbetween2004and2018areestimatedtoresultin$634billionineconomiclossesinAsia,alsoabout2.5timeshighercomparedtothefigurefor1980–1994.Amongthesedisasters,catastrophiceventscausedthemosthavoc,anestimated$491 billionin2004–2018(Figure 1).Suchtrendsinboththenumberofwater-relateddisastersandthefigurefortheassociatedeconomiclossesareexpectedtocontinue,basedontheconsistentpredictions by various scientific committees (IPCC 2014). Therefore, the issue ofwater-relateddisastermanagementwarrantsurgentattention.

ADBI Policy Brief No. 2020-4 (August) 2

Notes:

Accounted events have caused ≥ 1,000 fatalities and/or produced normalized losses of ≥ $100 million, $300 million, $1 billion, or $3 billion (depending on the assigned World Bank income group of the affected country).

Normalization via local gross domestic product developments measured is in US dollars.

Source: Authors.

Human factors that increase disaster-related exposureand vulnerability, such as poverty, rapid populationgrowth, disorderly urbanization, and changes in landuse,alsoaggravatethenegativeconsequencesofwater-relatedhazardsintensifiedbyclimatechange.Moreover,theissueofmanagingclimatechange-induceddisastershasgrowntobecomecomplex.

Due to such complexity, themanagement of disastersrequires cooperation between governments, regionalorganizations, international institutions, businesses,nonprofit organizations, and individuals. The SendaiFramework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030established four priority areas: understanding disasterrisk, improvingdisaster preparedness for response andbetteringrecoveryefforts,strengtheningthegovernanceframework formanagingdisaster risk, and investing indisasterriskreduction(UnitedNations2015).Inadditionto cooperation within countries, the framework alsocalled for further regional and global cooperation bysharingbestpracticesandbuildingpartnershipsacrosssectors and countries. This is a daunting challenge,particularly for disaster-prone developing countries inAsia and the Pacific. Developing countries are morevulnerable to climate-induced water disasters due tounderlying factors that increase risks, such as poverty,inequality, and weak institutions for disaster riskmanagement. The framework states that international,regional, and cross-border cooperation is required for

Figure 1: Overall Losses in Catastrophic Weather-Related Loss Events (2018 prices)

supportingtheresourcesandcapabilitiesofdevelopingcountries. In order effectivelymanage disasters, states,regional and international organizations, the privatesector,non-stateorganizations,andindividualsneedtowork together in strengthening governance structuresandinvestment.

Background

The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) andthe International Centre for Water Hazard and RiskManagement (ICHARM) hosted a policy dialogue on27–28 January 2020, attended by senior officials ofseveral related government agencies from Indonesia,Japan, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Thepolicy dialogue focused on several areas of disasterrisk management (DRM), such as the structural andnonstructuralmeasuresforpreparedness,aswellasearlywarning.Alsodiscussedwerecross-disciplinaryaspectssuchasfinancialmanagement,governance,andlaw,aswellastherolesofnationalandlocalauthoritiesacrossdifferent phases of DRM. A detailed description of theassociatedtermsisinthenextsection.

This policy brief collates the country experiences,identifiesthekeypolicychallengesfacingthedevelopingmember countries, discusses successful case studiesand acclaimed academic frameworks, and provides

35.1%

56.6%

8.3%

1980–1994

Meteorological events (tropical cyclones, extratopical storms, convective storms, local storms)

Hydrological events (�oods, mass movements)

Climatological events (extreme temperatures, droughts, forest �res)

Overall losses: $228 billion

Overall losses: $491 billion

32.2%

51.6%

16.2%

2004–2018

Frontiers of Water-Related Disaster Management and the Way Forward2 3

recommendationsformovingforward.ADBIandICHARMparticipated in the FifteenthMeeting of theHigh-levelExpertsandLeadersPanelonWaterandDisasters(HELP)on 29  May 2020 and contributed to the Principles toAddress Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)under the COVID-19 Pandemic (see Box), which wereadoptedatthemeeting.

The Framework of Disaster Risk ManagementDRM is a comprehensive approach applied across thelife stages of a disaster to reduce systematically itsimpacts. An overviewof theDRM strategy is shown inFigure2.Adisasteroccurswhenahazard(water-relatednatural hazards in this case) interactswith an exposedandvulnerablepopulation,causingdamage.Dependingon the timescale, thedamage can alsobe classified asimmediate, short run, or long run. Immediateordirectdamage includes harm to people and physical assets,suchaspropertyorinfrastructure.Indirectlossesdenotethe adverse effects of a disaster on economic activityin theshort runand loss towell-being in the long run.Various structuralandnonstructuralmeasuresare thenimplementedacrossthelifestagesofadisastertoreducetheoveralldamage.Structuralmeasuresusuallyrefertothe physical construction of infrastructure. In contrast,nonstructuralmeasuresrefertoknowledgeorpracticesasrepresentedthroughpolicies, laws,publicawarenessprograms,andothersocioeconomicmeasures.

Principles to Address Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction under the COVID-19 Pandemic

Principle1:Enhanceleaders’awarenessondisasterriskreductioninthepandemic

Principle2:Integrateactionsonriskmanagementofdisastersandpandemics

Principle3:Providecleanwater,sanitation,andhygienesustainablyduringandafterdisasters

Principle4:ProtectdisasterriskmanagementstakeholdersfromthreatofCOVID-19

Principle5:Protectscarcemedicalresourcesfromdisasterimpact

Principle6:ProtectdisasterevacueesfromthreatofCOVID-19

Principle7:ProtectCOVID-19patientsfromthreatofdisasters

Principle8:DevelopspecializedevacuationguidanceforcitiesandareasunderCOVID-19lock-down

Principle9:FinanceDRRactionsunderCOVID-19effectivelytoavoideconomiccatastrophe

Principle10:Strengthenglobalsolidarityandinternationalcooperationtocopewiththesecooccurringchallengestowardsbuildingourworldbackbetter

Source: Extracted from High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP). https://www.wateranddisaster.org/principles-to-address-water-related-disaster-risk-reduction-drr-under-the-covid-19-pandemic/.

Depending on the life stage at which thesemeasuresare implemented, they can be classified into fourphases: preparedness, early warning, response, andrecovery. Measures for disaster preparedness aimto reduce the hazard, exposure, and vulnerability.Structuralmeasuresinthedisasterpreparednessphaseinclude disaster-resilient infrastructure developmentand the information infrastructure needed to supportdisastermonitoringandforecasting.Proactivemeasurestaken in planning land use, housing, and buildingsreduce damage more effectively by absorbing theimpact of a powerful hazard. Nonstructural measuresin this phase include preparing community networksto impart knowledge and training related to disasterpreparedness, developing appropriate hazard maps,andputtingaDRMplanintopractice.

Forwater-relatedhazards,anearlywarningsystemplaysanessential role. Inmanycases, thehazardmonitoringsystems put into place to monitor the water-relatedhazardscanbeusedtoissueawarningsothatresidentscanevacuatetosaferplaces.Earlywarningsystemsthusplayanessentialroleinreducingthelossofhumanlife.

The response phase refers to the actions taken by therelevant stakeholders to minimize the impact of thehazardand, ifpossible, restoresome functions thatareessential for society. Structural measures here includethe recovery of utilities, development of evacuationcenters,arrangementfortemporaryhousing,andothermeasures to restore physical structures. Nonstructural

ADBI Policy Brief No. 2020-4 (August) 4

measuresrelevantforthisphaseincluderescue,medical,logisticsupport,andothermeasurestoaddressobstaclesto people’s health and livelihoods. In some instances,financial inputs are provided by the government torecovereconomicactivities.

Finally,intherecoveryphase,theemphasisisonrestoringthe functions of the society to the pre-disaster levelthrough structural measures such as reconstruction,nonstructuralmeasuressuchasrenewalofurbanplans,and economic recovery measures. In many instances,disasters are also seen as an opportunity to enhancethe functions of society to a level even higher thanbefore the disaster. The concept, commonly known as“BuildBackBetter” (UnitedNations2015),often is seenas an opportunity to correct the non-optimal spatialdistributionofsocietalfunctionsprevalentinthepast.

Apart from the various structural and nonstructuralmeasures applicable to various phases of the disaster,several cross-disciplinary activities are essentialacross various stages. Capacity building and training,financial management, operation and maintenancemanagement,governance,law,andissuespertainingtobalancing actions from local and central governmentsareallexamplesofsuchcross-disciplinary topics.Whilethe “Build Back Better” framework offers promising

Figure 2: Framework for Disaster Risk Management

Source: Authors..

opportunitiestocorrectthenon-optimaldevelopmentsof thepast and reduce thedisaster riskgoing forward,preparednessandearlywarningsystemsareconsideredthe most essential and useful forms of defense tominimizetheimpactofdisasters,especiallyforresource-constrained developing economies (Noy, Ferrarini, andPark2019).

The experience shared at the ADBI–ICHARM policydialogue established the interactions between severalstructural, nonstructural, and cross-disciplinary aspectsof DRM, resulting in the effectiveness of the first twophases of DRM. Their essential characteristics arediscussedinthesubsequentsections.

Understanding Disaster Risk and Disaster PreparednessThe fundamental building block supporting thesephasesiswaterhazarddata.Datahererefertothepast,real-time, and estimated information related to waterhazards. They come from weather stations, satellites,and weather forecasting agencies and form the basisof hydrological forecasting (rainfall forecasting, etc.).Depending on the timescale of these estimates (daily,weekly, monthly, seasonal, etc.), these forecasts serve

Hazard Exposure Vulnerability

Loss of well-being

Immediate

Short-Run

Long-Run

Structural Measures Nonstructural Measures

Evacuation Center

Infrastructure

Debris RemovalMedical Support

and Rescue Volunteers

ReconstructionUrban Planning

Disaster

DamageMortalityMorbidityDisplacementAsset Damage

Indirect Loss

PreparednessEarly

Warning

ResponseRecovery

Cross-Disciplinary Measures

Capacity Building and Training Operation and Maintenance Governance and Law

Early Warning

Temporary Housing

Meteorological Forecasting

Hazard Map

Information Collection

Financial Support

Community Participation

Financial Management

Frontiers of Water-Related Disaster Management and the Way Forward4 5

differentaspectsofDRMpreparednessatstructuralandnonstructurallevels.

For example, the daily forecasts, when combinedwithhydrodynamicmodels, which essentially help estimatethetemporalandspatialspreadofatypicalhydrologicaldisaster event (excess rain, etc.), can help estimate thenumber of affected people (and severity of the effect)in case of a flood. In Sri Lanka, rainfall simulations incombination with hydrodynamic models have beenusedalsotostudythepotentialresponsetomanagetheevent. Basedon the risk estimationsusing simulations,governmentagenciesatalllevelsinSriLankawereabletoprioritizethedevelopment,operation,andmaintenanceplans of several flood control facilities needingattention. The seasonal forecasts in combination withhydrodynamic modeling have been extensively usedto develop hazard maps in all participating countries.Suchhazardmapsthenformthebasisofthelong-termstructural measures, such as renewal and mitigationmeasuresattheurbanandrurallevels.

However, not all countries have focused on adoptingstructural measures in response to the outputs of thehydrologicalandhydrodynamicmodels.CountriessuchasthePhilippinesareutilizingsuchhazardmapsaspartofbuildingclimateresilience, inspiredbytheCommunity-Based Adaptation (CBA) to climate change framework(Kurukulasuriya, Ganapin, and Nyandiga 2015). ThePhilippines is focusing on assuring climate-resistantlivelihoods, enhancing adaptive capacity, addressingpovertyandvulnerability,andimplementingasmartriskreductionstrategy.AnexampleofCBAintheagriculturesectorsharedbytherepresentativefromthePhilippineshighlightedmeasuressuchasadoptingcropandfarmingmethodvariations,adjustinglandtopographytoreducesoilerosion,andenhancingthewaterabsorptioncapacityofthesoilstocounterseasonalrainfallvariability,declinein precipitation, increase in mean temperatures, andchanges in climate.ThePhilippines is alsoundertakingefforts for community participation and awarenessdevelopmentasameasuretoenhancetheeffectivenessofthenonstructuralpreparednessmeasures.

Based on a review of the experiences from theparticipatingcountries,substantialeffortsonenhancingwater hazard data collection, storage, analysis, and

For effective DRM, it is necessary to scale efforts to leverage water hazard data as much as possible

utilizationcapacityarevisibleacrossallmembercountries.Despitethesignificantprogressonthisfront,manydatamanagement issues must be addressed continuously.A few applications described above emphasize thatan effective DRM data management approach shouldbe able to handle large volumes of a variety of datain a short processing time. Such a data-dependentapproach enables us to reproduce natural events andhavepeopleexperience suchextremeevents in virtualspace, therefore establishing a seamless connectionbetween emergency and normal times. By preparingfor an emergency through the effective use of scienceandtechnologyindataintegrationandcommunication,residents and governmentswill be able to take timelyaction at each stage of a disaster.To achieve a societywhereeach individual issureofbeingprotectedsafely,however,itiscriticaltofurtherstrengthenthecapabilitiesof human resources, in particular the capacity for datamanagement.

Participants at the policy dialogue reached consensusthat foreffectiveDRM, it isnecessarytoscaleeffortstoleveragewaterhazarddataasmuchaspossibleandthatsucheffortsshouldbethefocusforfuturebilateralandmultilateraldevelopmentprograms.

Early Warning and Improving ResponseTheinformationfromthehydrologicalandhydrodynamicmodels updated in real time often serves an essentialelement for issuing early warning of disasters. Suchan early warning is usually categorized into differentlevels according to severity. Hence, the warning ofeach severity level is expected to trigger a differentresponsefromtherelevantgovernmentagenciesaswellasfromcommunitieslivinginthedisaster-affectedareas.While theprinciples of such earlywarning systems arewellestablishedandwellunderstood, thereareseveralprevalentchallengesoftenrelatingtononstructuralandcross-disciplinarymeasures.

Thefirstchallengerelatestotheeffectiveimplementationofanintegratedmulti-hazardwarningsystem(MHWS).Fromanend-userperspective,suchasystemisdesirableasuserscanaccessinformationinaconsistentmanner

ADBI Policy Brief No. 2020-4 (August) 6

andthrougheasy-to-usechannels.IndonesiaandJapanhave been successful in implementing such systems.They rely extensively on modern technology andinformation-sharing platforms (such as social media,news, and official websites) through easy-to-usemediums such as smartphones. However, Sri Lanka,for example, continues to face several challenges inimplementingsuchanMHWS.Thesechallengesincludeassuring collaboration between multiple governmentdepartments and divisions whose responsibility forissuingwarningsfrequently limitsthemtoonespecificaspect of a disaster. Besides, often there is not onestandardscaleforcategorizingtheseverityofdifferenttypesofdisaster.Challengesalsoremainindeterminingagreedthresholdvaluesonthedisasterseverityscales.These thresholds are used to determine the level ofresponse from relevant government agencies. Hence,theselectionofthethresholdvaluesisnotonlyanissuerelated to uncertainty in assessing the threshold butalso constraints faced by the individual governmentagencies in providing the desired response. In Japan,the challenges of MHWSs are managed through acentralized and transparent governance structure. Asingle agency in the country is tasked with issuingwarnings,thesamescaleformeasuringdisasterseverityisused,andtheinformationandresponsecoordinationprocedures across several national and state-levelgovernmentagenciesarewellestablishedinthenormalprocesses.

The second challenge relates to triggering a responsefrom people living in the disaster-affected areas uponissuinganearlywarning.Thelackofapromptresponsefrom residents was a challenge, with or without anMHWS.CitingtheexampleofrainfallinJuly2018,whichcaused more than 200 casualties, the most enormousdamage in the past 30 years due to rainfall, the JapanMeteorological Agency identified that even theMHWSwasnoteffectiveinconveyingtherealsenseoftherisk.As a result, the agency has been working to enhanceuser risk perception by providing high-resolution dataabout the potential effect for a given warning level.The Japan Meteorological Agency, in partnership withmunicipalities, also conducts citizen-level workshopsto promote understanding and use of the information

Human capacity development adequately addressing local knowledge and wisdom is considered a necessity for future policy frameworks

provided through such warning systems. Expertsfrom Indonesia and Myanmar also emphasized suchcommunity-level engagement to promote the usewarningsystems.Hence,humancapacitydevelopment(public education and literacy, empowerment of localgovernmentsandcommunity leaders,aswellasmediabriefings) adequately addressing local knowledgeandwisdom is considered a necessity for futurepolicyframeworks.

Governance

TheSendaiFrameworkforDisasterRiskReduction2015–2030 views states as having the primary responsibilityfor improvingdisaster risk reduction (DRR)within theirboundaries.DRR requiresanall-of-societyengagementandpartnerships thatare inclusive, accessible, andpayspecialattentiontothemostvulnerablegroups.

The policy dialogue helped increase understanding ofhowthereal-lifeimplementationoftheSendaiframeworklooks and what could be done to further enhance itsimplementation.Inparticular,thediscussionsidentifiedimportantstakeholders inaneffectiveDRRgovernancestructure. These key stakeholders are the nationalgovernment, localgovernment,and localcommunities,aswellascivilsocietyorganizations(CSOs),internationalorganizations,academia,business,andthemedia.EachoftheseplayershasaquintessentialroleineffectiveDRR.

Role of National Governments

The two main activities of national governmentsrelate to mainstreaming DRR and coordination withother stakeholders. Disasters will destroy economic,social, environmental, and political life in countries,so themitigation of risks requires DRR to be includedin national planning. The cooperation of stakeholdersfrommultiplesectors isneededtoaddress investment,planning, technological capacity, communication, andotherissues.

Inthisregard,participantsdeemeditnecessarytocreateDRR platforms to coordinate stakeholders from the

Frontiers of Water-Related Disaster Management and the Way Forward6 7

nationalleveltothecommunitylevelandacrosssectors.1The presenters from all participating countries alsoshared how their national governments are engagingwithvariousministriesandagencies,localcommunities,academia, and the private sector. For example, therepresentative of the Cabinet Office for DisasterManagement in Japan spoke in detail about howDRRis included in national planning, for example, for floodcontrol. The government constructed levees and flooddiversion channels to mitigate the effects of disastersand created a governance model to coordinate andimplementfloodcontrolactivities.2

As stated in the guiding principles of the Sendaiframework, thenationalgovernment should act as thefocalpointoftheDRRpolicy-makingprocess.Amajorityof thedialogueparticipantswereofa similarviewandshared experiences from their own countries. Nationalgovernments in Indonesia and Sri Lanka have beenengagingwithlocalgovernmentsandlocalcommunitiestocatertohighlydiversepopulations.Theirexperiencessuggest that adequate disaster preparation, warning,response, and recovery are best made when localgovernmentsandorganizationsworkwelltogetherandcoordinatewithorganizationsat thenational level.Theroleofnationalgovernmentsisessentialincoordinatingthe efforts as they hold more financial, technical, andotherresourcescomparedtolocalgovernments.

Role of Local Governments and Civil Society Organizations ParticipantsfromIndonesia,Myanmar,andthePhilippinesshared their country experiences, highlighting theiractivities related to implementation of DRR in localenvironments. They reaffirmed the importance ofwork done by the local authorities. In several of theparticipating countries, the local authorities engagewithcivilsocietyorganizations(CSOs)toraiseawarenessamong local communities through public educationcampaigns and socialmedia platforms concerning thewarningsystemsandevacuationplans.

Akeyfeatureexpectedoflocalgovernmentsistoensureinformationcoordinationwiththenationalgovernmentin a clear and timelymanner before, during, and afterdisasters. Hence, local governments should maintaingood relations not only with local communities andCSOs but also with the national government. This is

1 See presentation slides for Integrated Governance for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). https://events.development.asia/system/files/materials/2020/01/202001-integrated-governance-disaster-risk-reduction.pdf.

2 Seepresentation slides forDisaster Risk Reduction Policies in Japan. https://events.development.asia/system/files/materials/2019/01/201901-disaster-risk-reduction-policies-japan.pdf.

especially important in places with high levels ofdiversity where local governments may need to askCSOsandlocalcommunitiesforinputintheDRRpolicyformulation and implementation process. CSOs canalsoassistlocalgovernmentsinpolicyimplementation.For example, community representatives in Indonesiahelped agencies and local governments organizeeducation campaigns and raised awareness amonglocalcommunities.

Role of Businesses

DRR requires investing in technology, infrastructure,capacity, and other areas. Businesses are anindispensablepartofanysociety,andtheirinvolvementinDRRcanbeadvantageous.MainstreamingDRRisnotaneasy task foranygovernment.Theprivatesector isexpectedtoworkwiththegovernmenttoinvestinDRRinfrastructure and come up with innovative solutionsforthechallengesthatareuniquetoeachcase.

Role of the Media

Providing accurate information to the public before,during, and after a disaster is important for thegovernment to carryout itsDRR functions effectively.Many countries engage with conventional forms ofmedia suchas televisionand radio to reachpeople inrural parts of the country. On the other hand, socialnetworking sites have become useful tools to relaysuch information to the public, as the number ofpeopleusingthesocialmediaplatformshasincreasedsignificantly in recent years. However, an importantresponsibilityforthemediaisnottosensationalizethenewsaboutdisasters,whichcouldspreadpanicamongthepublic.

Role of Academia

Understandingthenatureofdisastersandthevariousaspects of DRR puts science and technology at theforefront. Activities previously described in this policybrief clearly establish the importance of innovativesolutions based on scientific and technologicalknowledge for overall DRM. Hence, scholars shouldcontinuetoresearchDRR,preparedness,earlywarning,responses, recovery, and other aspects. An importantrole of the government is to realize the contributionsfrom these academic activities and promote

ADBI Policy Brief No. 2020-4 (August) 8

science-basedpolicyfortheeffectivedevelopmentandmanagementofDRRplans.

Role of International Organizations

For developing countries, international organizationsareanotherstakeholderintheDRRfield.Especiallylow-incomecountriesfinditdifficulttomainstreamDRR,sointernational organizations can provide financial andtechnicalassistance (seeAppendixonthe InternationalFloodInitiative).InternationalorganizationsinSriLankaare integrated into the DRR coordination mechanismsin the country. Therefore, national and local offices ofinternationalorganizationscanlearnaboutthesituationonthegroundandrelaythistotheirnationalofficesandheadquarters.Moretailoredassistanceatthelocallevelcan also be provided because of the presence of localoffices.

Characteristics of the Desired Governance FrameworkThe main stakeholders and their roles for effectiveDRR are summarized in Figure 3. Looking at the figureimmediatelyprovidesasenseofthecomplexityinvolvedin managing such highly coupled interactions. In adisaster, all stakeholders need to collect, analyze,identify, and share critical information on a real-time

basis,making timeboundcriticaldecisionsoftenunderextremelydifficultphysicalconditionswhilecoordinatingtheir actions horizontally and vertically across severalstakeholders. While a majority of the countries facingdisasterrisksarestillabletoidentifythekeystakeholdersand to some extent engagewith them, in the contextof increasing numbers of disasters and the amountof information and coupling of systems, the effectiveimplementation of the overall governance frameworkremainsachallengeevenformanydevelopedeconomies.

This is still an area that needs further deliberationto identify potential working models. One proposalfeaturing an online synthesis system and a facilitatorcouldserveasaguidingframeworkforthefuturedesignof such systems (footnote 1). Today, it is possible thatsome local governments have never experienced adisaster, therefore making it essential to establish asupport system that helps local governments executebasicactionswithoutdelayintheeventadisasterdoesoccur.Toensuresuchasystem,aportalsite forsharingdisaster information is indispensable, as itwould allowdisaster management personnel of local governmentsto select real-time information and risk informationnecessaryforaneffectivedisasterresponseandcustomizeawebsitetomonitortheselected informationtogetherwithoutswitchingwebpages.Alsourgentlynecessaryistodevelopaprocedurethatenableslocalgovernments

Figure 3: Disaster Risk Reduction Governance Framework

CSO = civil society organization, DRR = disaster risk reduction.

Source: Authors.

National Government

Local Government

CSOs

AcademiaMedia BusinessesInternational Organizations

Policy advice to government

Policy formulation and implementation, financial and

technical support

Information sharing and feedback

Policy formulation and implementationPolicy input

Communities

Public education and policy implementation assistance

DRR MainstreamingStakeholder Coordination

Overall Actions

Information sharing with government, news broadcasting to the public

Financial and technical assistance to government and communities

DRR investment partnerships with government

Frontiers of Water-Related Disaster Management and the Way Forward8 9

toallocatehumanresourcesappropriatelyaccordingtodifferent stages of a disaster starting from forecasting,followed by evacuation advisories and orders, rescue,emergencyresponse,restoration,andreconstruction. 

Further, it is also important for stakeholders of eachcountry and locality to engage in the improvement ofdisaster resilience and sustainable development in aninclusivemannerwhilemaximizingintegratedscientificknowledge. Facilitators play a critical role in achievingthis goal and should provide appropriate knowledge,experience, and approaches for each locality, leadingtheeffective introductionofexperiencesandresourcesfrom the outside. They should also assist stakeholdersinvolvedinprotectingtheirlivesandassetstocontinuetheir livelihoods and businesses by wisely applyingscienceandtechnology.

Financing

Financing is a cross-disciplinary issue affecting bothstructuralandnonstructuralmeasuresatdifferentstagesofDRM.Further,financingDRMisanissuefacedacrosstheworld,moresoinlow-andmiddle-incomecountriesbutstillacentraldiscussionthemeinhigh-incomecountries.Thefinancialresourcesareinfact limited.Hence,effortsareneededtofindnewresources,suchasprivatesectorfinancing,andtomaximizethereturnsofanyinvestment.

One idea that has beenput forward is tomeasure thespillovereffectsofinfrastructuredevelopmentandsharethesespilloverbenefitswiththeprivatesectortoenhancetheirreturns.Developingroadsandotherinfrastructureattractsmore businesses to an area, andmore housesarebuilt.Thisurbanizationprocessbringsaboutvariousexternal economic effects and consequently leads tomore tax revenues. Similarly, it is possible to evaluatethe effectiveness of a river improvement project, forexample, by calculating how much tax revenue maybelostandforhowlongsuchalossmaylastincaseof

a flood. Considering that the tax revenue loss can beprevented or recovered through river improvement,it is possible to see river improvement as creatingextrataxrevenues,partofwhichcanbeearmarkedforfurtherriver improvement. Ifsuchamechanismcanbeestablished,moreinvestment inriver improvementcanbeencouraged.Yoshino,Helble,andAbidhadjaev(2018)point out that good investment creates spillover orexternaleconomiceffectsandpreventsdecreasesintaxrevenuesfromriversideareas.

While finding new financing sources was deemeduseful, participants also agreed that the existingfinancial resources should be utilized to maximize thesocioeconomic returns. Hence, designing disaster riskmitigation infrastructureprojectsshouldservemultiplefunctional requirementssimultaneously,whichrequiresfunctional coordination between several agencies ofthegovernment. In thisway,any specific infrastructureassets could be used to operate throughout its lifecycle, and different infrastructure projects could alsobe combined to complement each other’s functionalperformance(Yoshino,Helble,andAbidhadjaev2018).

Case Studies

India: Odisha State’s Learning from Previous Disasters3

In1999,acyclonedevastatedthestateofOdishainIndia,leavingmore than 10,000 people dead and 19 millionaffected (Walch 2019). The government of Odisha atthe time was criticized sharply for not doing enoughto prevent the large number of casualties. Taking thisexperience to heart, the Odisha government changedthewayitdealtwithstakeholders.WhenCyclonePhailinstruckOdishain2013,itaffected11 millionpeople,butonly 23 peoplewere killed.The factors responsible forthis improvedmanagementofa cycloneare illustratedinFigure4basedontheDRMframeworkintroducedin

Designing disaster risk mitigation infrastructure projects should serve multiple functional requirements simultaneously, which requires functional coordination between several agencies of the government

3 In2011,theGovernmentofIndiaapprovedthenamechangeoftheStateofOrissatoOdisha.Thisdocumentreflectsthischange.However,whenreferenceismadetopoliciesthatpredatethenamechange,theformalnameOrissaisretained.

ADBI Policy Brief No. 2020-4 (August) 10

this policy brief. A centralized and highly coordinatedgovernancestructureimplementedbytheOdishastategovernmentisoftenmentionedinthisregard.

Currently, the Odisha State Disaster ManagementAuthority(OSDMA)isworkingcloselywithseveralotherdepartmentsinthegovernmentaswellasinternationaland local nongovernment organizations to take careof cyclone shelters and manage volunteers. Moreimportantly,thegovernmentuseditseconomicgainstoinvestindisastermanagement.Forexample,therewerenotenoughcyclonesheltersin1999,sothegovernmentbuiltmoremultipurposeshelters.Itcreatedcommunity-based shelter management and maintenancecommittees(Walch2019),whichweretaskedwithtakingcareofthesheltersandleadingpre-disasterevacuations.Sincethesheltersweremultipurpose,theycouldbeusedas venues for social events for which the committeescouldchargeasmallfeetohelpwithmaintenancecosts.Such multipurpose usage of the shelters maximizedthebenefitsoftheinfrastructure,creatingandresultingin resource efficiency. Long-term commitment fromtheOdishagovernmentwas also essential for buildingtrust between the authorities, civil society, and theresidents, ensuring timely evacuation. These changes,among others, explain why Odisha was able to makesuchdrasticchangesinitsdisastermanagementefforts.

NGO = nongovernment organization.

Source: Adapted from Singh and Jeffries (2013).

Figure 4: Management of Cyclones: Case of Odisha

Japan: Challenges to Adapt to Climate ChangeInSeptember2015andAugust2016,Japanexperiencedheavy rain disasters in the Kanto and Tohoku regionsand the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions, respectively.These disasters that occurred in areas along riversmanaged under national and prefectural supervisionrevealed issues related to the issuance of evacuationinformationanddelays inevacuating residents, aswellas catastrophic damage to the local economy causedbyextremelyseverefloods.Toaddresstheseissues,thenationalgovernmentdevelopedapolicyon“RebuildingFlood-ConsciousSocieties,”whichwas realized throughtherevisedFloodControlActinMay2017.

Only 2 weeks after the revised law went into effect,heavy rainsof 169millimetersperhour caused seriousfloodinginnorthernKyushu.AnextremelysevereflooddisasteroccurredacrosswesternJapaninJuly2018andanother in eastern Japan due to Typhoon Hagibis inOctober2019.The48-hourrainfallreachedarecordhighat125observationpointsthroughoutwesternJapanin2018,andthe12-hourrainfallat120observationpointsthroughouteasternJapanin2019.Thus,recordrainfallswere rewritten at about 10% of all observation points(about1,300)inJapanwithinaspanof2years.

Hazard Exposure Vulnerability

Immediate

Structural Measures Nonstructural Measures

Multipurpose Evacuation Center

Meteorological Forecasting Community Network Hazard Map Disaster Management Plan

Disaster

DamageMortalityMorbidity

PreparednessEarly

Warning

Cross-Disciplinary Measures Capacity building and training of all stakeholders Maximizing socioeconomic returns on investment

Long-term trust development for e�ective governance Coordinated e�orts between several government agencies

Early Warning Evacuation Facilitation

by NGOs

INDIA Highest intensity of the cyclone

INDIAHighest

intensity of the cyclone

Frontiers of Water-Related Disaster Management and the Way Forward10 11

Whileeffortshavebeenmade toenhance thecapacityto respond to water-related disasters, much more isrequired to strengthen resilience and preparedness atall levels to counter the recurrence of unprecedented,extremelysevereflooddisasterssuchasthosethathaveseriously affected the whole country in recent years.Whileallpossibleefforts should focuson recoveryandrehabilitation from the recurring severe flooddisasters,it is equally important to present a basic policy thatstresses the necessity to invest in flood control forfurther growth of the country. Such a policy wouldbe the key factor to promote the implementation ofessentialproactivemeasures.ThechairoftheCouncilforSocial InfrastructureDevelopmenthasproposedanewbasinwide floodmanagementpolicy to theMinister ofLand,Infrastructure,TransportandTourismofJapan.Theproposal set three goals: improving disaster resilience,introducingtheconceptofsustainability,andpromotingmoreinclusiveness.Theurgenttaskforthegovernmentnow is to incorporate this policy into various otherpoliciesandmeasuressothatitwillbeputintopracticethroughconcreteactionsacrossthecountry.

Conclusion

Water-related disasters are serious threats to criticalinfrastructure (public services such as energy,communications,transportation,andwatersupply)andcancausedevastatingsocialandindustrialconsequences,significantly disrupting efforts made toward achievingsustainable development. The Sendai Framework forDisaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the SustainableDevelopment Goals, and the Paris Agreement withinthe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

2018 flood disaster in western Japan. Mabi Town along the Oda River, Okayama Prefecture. (Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan)

Flood disaster due to Typhoon Hagibis in October 2019. Flood of the Chikuma River in Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture. (Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan)

Change,allagreedin2015,requireconcertedeffortstoensure resilience, sustainability, and inclusive growthforsocieties.Amongthese,waterisacross-cuttingareawith a strong relationship with several other aspectsincluded in the three global agendas. It is because ofthe importance of water that a high-level panel onwater consisting of 11 heads of state and a specialadvisor issuedAn Agenda for Water Action, calling for afundamentalshift inthewaytheworldmanageswater(High-LevelPanelonWater2018).Amongtheimportantrecommendationsofthepanelwastoputemphasisondevelopingaplatformandaglobalnetworkofresearchandhighereducation institutions,eachcontributing tothescientificassessmentoftherisks.

Inthisregard,participantsatthepolicydialoguesharedexperiences on a variety of scientific, engineering, andsocioeconomicapproachesindevelopingandeffectivelyimplementing such a platform. The policy dialogueillustrated the importance of scientific approaches insynthesizing relevant information (high veracity) fromlarge volumes of data, from a variety of sources, andcaptured at a high velocity for quantifying the risksassociated with climate change-related disasters.Significant progress has been made toward obtainingsuch scientific information and using it to makecorresponding engineering efforts (such as operationandmanagementofdisastercontrolfacilities)forseveraldeveloping countries in Asia and the Pacific. However,continuedsupport (financial andotherwise) for furtherscale-upof the scientific and theengineeringefforts isnecessary.

The policy dialogue also emphasized that engineeringsolutions cannot be the only answer to the complex

ADBI Policy Brief No. 2020-4 (August) 12

challengesposedbydisastersrelatedtoclimatechange.Financial and community uptake-related challengesare present even in developed countries, warrantinga more comprehensive approach to DRM. Therefore,based on the discussions and the case studies sharedat the policy dialogue, human capacity development(public education and literacy, empowerment of localgovernmentsandcommunity leaders,aswellasmediabriefings) by properly addressing local knowledge andwisdomisconsideredanecessaryfocusforfuturepolicyframeworks.

Efforts are also needed to improve disaster preventioncapacityby investing in infrastructurethatcanbeusedcontinuously.Finally,effectivegovernancewasidentifiedas one of the most essential elements of an overallDRM strategy. In the context of developing countries,efficient governance structures proved to be effectiveforDRMeven in theabsenceof sophisticatedscientificand engineering solutions. Nevertheless, modern-daytechnology has not only enabled high-quality input

Effective governance was identified as one of the most essential elements of an overall DRM strategy

for effective governance but has also placed immensepressure on the coordination of decisions acrossdifferent levels of stakeholders working at differenttimescalesintheoverallDRMstrategy.Futuredialoguescouldfocusalsoonidentifyingbestpracticesrelatedtousageofstate-of-the-art technologytoenableefficientgovernanceforDRM.

In the current pandemic, competition between thewater-related DRR emergency response and theCOVID-19 health-care response could magnify thenegative impacts for some countries. Further, someDRR responses may not be suitable considering therisks of infectious diseases. In this regard, it is stronglyrecommendedtoapplythe10HELPprinciples(seeBox),whichofferpracticaladvicetopoliticalleadersmanagingDRR and COVID-19 responses and all stakeholders toformulatestrategiesandactions.Theseprinciplesfurtheremphasize proactive approaches to DRM, highlightingthekeymessagesandfuturedirectionsidentifiedinthispolicybrief.

Frontiers of Water-Related Disaster Management and the Way Forward12 13

The International Flood Initiative (IFI) is a worldwideframework to promote collaboration in floodmanagement among international organizations suchastheUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganization (UNESCO), the World MeteorologicalOrganizationandtheUnitedNationsOfficeforDisasterRiskReduction.TheInternationalCentreforWaterHazardandRiskManagement(ICHARM)hasbeenthesecretariatof IFI since its establishment.Under the IFI framework,Indonesia,Myanmar,thePhilippines,andSriLankahaveestablishedplatforms onwater resilience anddisastersinvolvingvarious stakeholders inwater-relateddisastermanagement such as government agencies, academia,and local communities. ICHARM has been acting asa facilitator supporting the platform stakeholders inmakingwell-informeddecisions.

DavaoCity in thePhilippines isamongthemostactiveparticipants in the platform activities.TheHELPDavaoNetwork, a member of the UNESCO HELP componentof the International Hydrological Programme topromote a global network of basins, has committedto strengthening collaboration among local waterstakeholderssince2004toimprovethemanagementof

waterissuesandthedecision-makingprocessbasedontheconceptofintegratedwaterresourcesmanagement(IWRM).TheHELPDavaoNetwork,whichisrepresentedbytheDepartmentofScienceandTechnologyRegionalOfficeNo.XI(DOSTXI),hasbeencooperatingcloselyinthecountryplatformtocombatwater-relateddisastersandclimatechange.

In October 2019, DOST XI and ICHARM jointly hostedparticipantsfromapproximately20organizationsattheOrientation on Climate Change. ICHARM researchersspokeonclimatechangeimpactassessmentanddisasterresilienceimprovement,andtheparticipantsformulatedactivities for climatechangeadaptationmeasuresafterdetaileddiscussionsandexchangeofperspectiveswithdifferentstakeholders.

Implementation plans and proposals to policy makersin line with a further localized activity design will bedevelopedtoimproveresiliencetowater-relateddisastersandclimatechange.Sharing thesignificance, roles,andbenefitsofresilienceimprovementofthesuccessfulcaseofmultistakeholderengagementinDavaoCitywillserveasausefulreferenceforotherareasandregions.

m = meter, S&T = science and technology.

Source: ICHARM.

Activity Design of Adaptation Measures for Climate Change in Davao City

Appendix: International Flood Initiative—Activities in Davao City, Philippines

Experiencing Climate Change

Experiencing events

Resilient communities

Attractive policy proposal

Infrastructure design

Incentive for investment

Bright tomorrow of Davao

Strengthening Resilience

Toward the Prosperous Davao

Climate change impact assessment based on S&T

Visualization

Predict climate change impact and scenario

Resilient society beyond saving lives

Design a brilliant future

Coordination with relevant ongoing energies

1/100 Flood (200 m grid)

“Nudging” psychological process

to disaster risk

Evacuation

Area BCM; Business Continuity Management

Groundwater use

Agriculture, Aquaculture and Natural Resources

(AANR)Biodiversity

SAFE: S&T Action Frontline for Emergencies

and Hazards Program

Be Climate Smart NOW

ADBI Policy Brief No. 2020-4 (August) 14

ReferencesHigh-LevelPanelonWater.2018.Making Every Drop Count: An Agenda for Water Action – High-Level Panel on Water Outcome

Document.Geneva.https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/17825HLPW_Outcome.pdf.Kurukulasuriya,P.,D.Ganapin,andC.Nyandiga.2015.Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change.NewYork:UNDP.https://

www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/environment-energy/climate_change/adaptation/community-based-adaptation-to-climate-change-/.

Noy,I.,B.Ferrarini,andD.Park.2019.BuildBackBetter:WhatIsIt,andWhatShouldItBe?ADB Economics Working Paper Series.No.600.Manila:AsianDevelopmentBank.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2014. Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [CoreWritingTeam,R.K.PachauriandL.A.Meyer(eds.)].Geneva:IPCC.

Singh,D.,andA.Jeffries.2013.Cyclone Phailin in Odisha, October 2013: Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment Report.Washington,DC:WorldBank.

UnitedNations.2015.Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.NewYork.Walch,C.2019.AdaptiveGovernanceintheDevelopingWorld:DisasterRiskReductionintheStateofOdisha,India.Climate

and Development11(3):238–52.Yoshino,N.,M.Helble, andU.Abidhadjaev.2018.Financing Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific: Capturing Impacts and New

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