DRR terms and concepts 1

Thematic note on DRR terminology and concepts, prepared for the DRR

Swiss NGO Platform

Friday, 9th September 2011 (updated October 2014)

Content

Disaster Risk Reduction ............................................................................................................................ 1

Some concepts related to Disaster Risk Reduction .................................................................................. 5

Disaster Risk Reduction and Development............................................................................................... 7

Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change .................................................................... 8

Some references for further reading ...................................................................................................... 10

The Evolution of Disaster Risk Reduction

The concept of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) has evolved in the last decade to a widely adapted framework to reduce the risks of natural hazards. Over the past decades, the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster, the Yokohama Conference (1994) and the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDR) in 2004 have contributed to a significant shift in the understanding of disaster management towards a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying causes of hazards and vulnerability and towards the development of a forward looking and longer term strategy for anticipating and managing risk1; in other words, a change of the concept of vulnerability and hazards by drawing more attention to the underlying causes of increased social vulnerability to hazards. During this time, the today used concept of Disaster Risk Reduction was developed giving particular emphasis on proactive measures (prevention and preparedness) instead of being reactive to disasters.

Graphic: DRR an agenda in progress

Source: ISDR, 2009; modified by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation and GRF Davos

1 Thomalla et al., 2006

DRR terms and concepts 2

The Hyogo Framework for Action and

its 5 priorities including Post 2015

A cornerstone of DRR is the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) (2005-2015) elaborated at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Hyogo (Japan). Adopted by 168 countries, its overarching goal is to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters by achieving substantive reduction of disaster losses by 2015. The framework is organised according to five priorities for action.

With the HFA coming to an end in 2015, the

United Nations General Assembly Resolution

66/199 requested UNISDR to facilitate the

development of a post-2015 framework for

disaster risk reduction. This new framework

aims at reviewing and improving the HFA and will be the major outcome of the upcoming UN

World Conference of Disaster Risk Reduction WCDRR (14-18 March 2015, Sendai, Japan).

Preparatory meetings indicate a three-fold outcome composed of: :A) the post‐2015

framework for disaster risk reduction with its monitoring system and period review process

(HFA2), B) the voluntary commitments of stakeholders, as leading examples of assumption of

responsibility, vision and readiness to act, and C) the political declaration2.

Concept of Disaster Risk Reduction

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a conceptual framework intended to systematically avoid (prevent) and limit (prepare/mitigate) disaster risks with regard to losses in lives and the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries3. Successful disaster risk reduction must be instigated well before a disaster strikes; in other words, it is crucial to shift the focus away from merely responding to disasters, and to focus particularly on disaster prevention and preparedness activities.

2 UNISDR, 2014, http://www.wcdrr.org/preparatory

3 UNISDR, 2009: Terminology

DRR terms and concepts 3

The concepts consists of different steps as presented in the following graphic:

Source: SDC (2011): Climate and DRR Check; FOCP, 2004.

Concretly speaking, DRR is defined as hazard multiplied by reduced vulnerability through

strengthened capacities4. Concretely speaking, through planned measures we can reduce

vulnerability respectively strengthen capacities and thus enhance the resilience of

communities and their livelihoods.

DRR principally tackles and addresses the risks of different orgins including hydrometeorolgical, geological and biological hazards. A natural hazard in itself does not cause a disaster, it results when a natural hazard impacts on a vulnerable, exposed and /or ill prepared community. Indeed, a crucial point about understanding disasters is that they are not purely the results of natural events, but the product of social, political and economic context in which they occur.

Components of DRR Hazard: A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage5. A hazard is characterized by: (i) location; (ii) magnitude or intensity; and (iii) frequency and probability.

4 UNISDR, 2009: Terminology

5 UNISDR, 2009. Terminology

DRR terms and concepts 4

According to UNISDR, the different types of hazards are classified as:

It can also be distinguished between the following types of hazards/disasters:

Sudden onset disasters (e.g. floods, cyclones, earthquake)

Slow onset disasters (e.g. drought, desertification) Vulnerability: The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard. There are many aspects of vulnerability, arising from various physical, social, economic, environmental and institutional factors. Vulnerability varies significantly within a community and over time6. A key variable in determining vulnerability is the question of „exposure“. People are differently vulnerable. The degree of vulnerability, and thus of disaster impact, is defined by social variables such as gender, age, health status, ethnicity, religion and socio-economic status. A full understanding of such social factors is necessary to identify the underlying causes of disasters and thus try to prevent and reduce them7. Disaster: A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Disasters are often described as a result of the combination of: the exposure to a hazard; the conditions of vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the potential negative consequences. It is important to mention that we only talk about a disaster when people are involved.

To avoid (prevent) a disaster and/or reduce (mitigate) the impact of a disaster, different types of measures can be implemented:

Preventive measures: The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters (to completely avoid potential adverse impacts through action taken in advance). E.g. dams or embankments that eliminate flood risks, land-use regulations that do not permit any settlement in high risk zones.

Preparatory measures: The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions.

Mitigating measures: The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.

It can also be distinguished between:

Structural measures: Any physical construction to reduce or avoid possible impacts of hazards, or application of engineering techniques to achieve hazard-resistance and resilience in structures or systems;

Non-structural measures: Any measure not involving physical construction that uses knowledge, practice or agreement to reduce risks and impacts, in particular through policies and laws, public awareness raising, training and education.

6 UNSIDR, 2009. Terminology

7 C.f. Clot, N. and J. Carter, 2009: DRR in the context of livelihoods and gender

DRR terms and concepts 5

Grapfic: The different components of DRR

Source: Practical Solutions (ITDG), 2011

Some concepts related to Disaster Risk Reduction

Vulnerability

Numerous frameworks around the term of “vulnerability” have been developed and interpreted differently by scholars and practitioners during the last years and according to the disciplinary perspective considered (e.g. DRR or Climate Change perspective) so that nowadays there is a wide range of definitions available. At present, the resulting disagreement about the appropriate definition of vulnerability is in particular a burning issue in the context of climate change so that conceptual clarity becomes an even more burning issue. One widely known concept in the field of DRR is the Pressure-and Release Model (PAR) developed by Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon and Davis in their publication “At risk” (2004) (respectively in their first edition of the publication: Blaikie, P., T. Cannon, I. Davis and B. Wisner, 1993). The model shows how disasters occur when natural hazards affect vulnerable people. The basis for the PAR idea is that a disaster is the intersection of two opposing forces: those processes generating vulnerability on one side, and the natural hazard event (or sometimes a slowly unfolding natural process) on the other. The ‘release’ idea is incorporated to conceptualise the reduction of disaster: to relieve the pressure, vulnerability has to be reduced. Their vulnerability is rooted in social processes and underlying causes which may ultimately be quite remote from the disaster event itself. This approach links vulnerability to unsafe conditions in a continuum of vulnerability that connects local vulnerability to wider national and global shifts in the political economy of resources and political power8.

8 Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon and Davis in their publication “At risk” (2004)

Hazard Vulnerability

Risk

Disaster

DRR terms and concepts 6

Graphic: Pressure and Release (PAR) model - the progression of vulnerability

Source: Wisner et al., 2003: Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters

Resilience

The Hyogo Framework for Action is a concrete response to assist the efforts of nations and communities to become more resilient to, and cope better with the hazards that threaten their development gains9. Resilience is defined by UNISDR as the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions. There is at the moment a strong tendency away from focusing on vulnerability towards resilience. However, it is not yet clear and remains challenging how resilience can be measured respectively to assess the community’s level of disaster resilience. (e. g. monitoring, evaluation)10. Over the last decades multiple definitions of resilience have been developed with no broadly accepted single definition today. A detailed analysis conducted by Klein et al. shows that what was once a straightforward concept is now a complex multi-interpretable concept with contested definitions and relevance. Today, the concept of resilience is now used in a great variety of interdisciplinary work concerned with the interactions between people and nature. The most important development over the past thirty years is the increasing recognition across the disciplines that human and ecological systems are interlinked and that their resilience relates to the functioning and interaction of the systems rather than to the stability of their components or the ability to maintain or return to some equilibrium state11.

9UNISDR, HFA http://www.preventionweb.net/files/1217_HFAbrochureEnglish.pdf 10 Cutter, 2008: 11 Klein, R., R. J. Nicholls, F. Thomalla, 2004: Resilience to natural hazards: how useful is this concept? Environmental hazards 5 (1-2), 35-45.

DRR terms and concepts 7

Disaster Risk Reduction and Development

In alignment with the development of the DRR concept, disasters have been increasingly perceived as cause and consequence of inadequate development and no longer simply as unavoidable aberrations. Human interventions and development processes are being recognised as fundamental in causing and exacerbating disasters as well as preventing or mitigating them and thus are intimately connected to the process of development. A disaster can eradicate years of local development efforts in a few minutes or hours through direct and indirect impacts and thus a set-back of development efforts. Simultaneously, development efforts and choices made by communities and nations can create and enhance disaster risk. Recent studies have underlined that:

Disasters are causes and consequence of development failings;

Development can increase or decrease disaster risk depending on how it is managed;

Disasters can reduce the chances of achieving the MDGs; and,

Disaster risk reduction can have positive developmental dividends, including for the MDGs12.

Graphic: Disasters and development

Source: UNDP, 2005: Reducing disaster risk. A challenge for development.

Food crises are, for example, often the result of long-term failures in development, producing chronic food insecurity and extended slow-onset disaster. Good development and effective DRR are both needed if such crises are to be avoided in the future.

In the field of adaptation, McGray et al. (2007) proposed that the range of adaptation activities may be framed as a continuum of responses to climate change; concretely from “pure” development activities, on the one hand, to very explicit adaptation measures on the other. The approach, therefore, helps in placing the interventions on a continuum rather than draw a sharp distinction between adaptation and classical development per se13. Such an approach could also be adapted and useful in the framework of DRR and development respectively DRR, ACC and development.

12 ODI, 2005: Humanitarian Response to Natural Disasters. A briefing paper prepared by the Humanitarian Policy Group for the International Development Committee inquiry into Humanitarian 13 Intercooperation India (2008). Towards adaptation to climate change. Climate Resilient Development. Synthesis Report.

DRR terms and concepts 8

Graphic: Continuum of adaptation activities

Source: Mc Gray et al. (2007); Intercooperation India (2008). Towards adaptation to climate change. Climate

Resilient Development. Synthesis Report.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change

How are DRR and ACC linked? Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Adaptation to Climate Change (ACC) are both strategies to respond to risks and contribute to strengthen the resilience of local communities and their livelihoods. Whereas DRR tackles all types of hazards – hydrometeorological, geophysical and biological – and focuses on current extreme events, adaptation to climate change only deals with climate and its variations and focuses on long-term adjustments to changes in mean climatic condition based on climate scenarios. Graphic: Relation between DRR and ACC

Source: Intercooperation, 2007

There are principally two points of encounter between DRR and ACC: (i) the increase in risks both in frequency and intensity related to the climate system, in this case mainly hydrometeorological extremes (see graphic below); and (ii) the appearance of new risks due to the changing climate including new hydrometeorological risks, biological disasters (e.g. pests or illnesses)

DRR terms and concepts 9

Graphic: Increment of Disasters since 1950

Source: WMO, 2009

DRR and ACC separate agendas?

For quite some time, the two working fields followed independent aims and objectives; however, over the last years they have been approaching each other and increasingly looking for common approaches and synergies. In 2005 at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Kobe (Japan) a first convergence of the agenda between DRR and ACC could be noted. In this context, the UNFCCC contributed with a discussion paper on “Disaster Risk Management in a Changing Climate (2005)“14 and the link between these two realms was subject to intense formal and informal debate15. Two years later at the Conference of the Parties (COP13) in Bali (2007), the nexus of these two themes was included into the Bali Action Plan16. At the COP14 in Poznan (2008), the main issue regarding DRR and ACC was no longer about its urgent need, but focused mainly on the question HOW to bridge DRR and ACC and how to integrate DRR into the framework of UNFCCC. In the elaborated draft text by the AWG-LCA for COP15 (2009), DRR has explicitly been added as an important instrument for adaptation to climate change. However, as the decisions were postponed to COP16, there was no legal commitment for an integrated approach addressing climate change and disaster risk reduction. During COP17 in Cancun (2010), as part of the Cancun Agreements, the Climate Adaptation Framework (CAF) was adopted. The Framework’s objective is to strengthen action on adaptation in developing countries through international cooperation. The Framework highlights both, ecological and socio-economic resilience as well as climate-related migration of people and calls on Parties to link adaption and disaster risk reduction resp. with the Hyogo Framework for Action. To conclude, for the first time there is kind of a formal commitment to link DRR and ACC. The Agreement makes clear reference to disaster risk reduction through: (i) climate change related disaster risk reduction strategies, taking into consideration the Hyogo Framework for Action where appropriate; (ii) early warning (ii) early warning systems; (iii) risk assessment and management; and (iv) sharing and transfer mechanisms such as insurance, at local, national, sub-regional and regional levels, as appropriate; among other decisions. Also, the work program “loss and damage” may develop a climate risk insurance facility.

14 F. Sperling and F. Szekely, 2005. Disaster Risk Management in a Changing Climate. Discussion Paper prepared for the World Conference on Disaster Reduction on behalf of the Vulnerability and Adaptation Resource Group. 15 Few, R. H. Osbahr, L.M. Bouwer, D. Viner, F. Sperling,2006. Linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable poverty reduction. A study carried out by the vulnerability and adaptation resource group with support from the European Commission (based on country studies in Kenya, México and Vietnam). 16Bali Action Plan (section 1c), 2007: http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_13/application/pdf/cp_bali_act_p.pdf

DRR terms and concepts 10

Regarding the approximation between ACC and DRR, a further milestone was set through the 3rd Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Reduction, (8th – 13th May 2011). During this event organized by the international DRR community, ACC took a prominent role. Big expectations are set on the financing mechanisms of the UNFCCC - especially the Adaptation Fund and the newly created Green Climate Fund – which could help to finance DRR measures17. Last but not least, the IPCC publication of the Special Report on “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, which is about to be finalized and published towards the end of this year, gives some answer on how to deal with both DRR and ACC and how to tackle them in order to reduce the risks of extreme events and disasters18.

Some references for further reading

- Blaikie, P., T. Cannon, I. Davis and B. Wisner (1993). At risk: natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters. London: Routledge.

- Cuny, F.C. (1983). Disaster and Development. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

- Klein, R.J., R.J. Nicholls, F. Thomalla (2003). Resilience to natural hazards: how

useful is this concept? Environmental hazards 5 (1-2), 35-45.

- UNISDR (2014). Development of the Post-2015 Framework for DRR, Zero Draft

http://www.wcdrr.org/preparatory/post2015

- UNISDR (2011). Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 Mid-Term Review

- UNISDR (2011): Revealing Risk, redefining development. Global Assessment Report

on Disaster Risk Reduction

- UNDP (2005). Reducing disaster risk. A challenge for development.

- Venton P, Hansford B, Reducing risk of disaster in our communities. Teddington:

Tearfund, 2006,

- Wisner, B., P. Blaikie, C. Terry, I. Davis (2003). At risk: Natural hazards, people’s

vulnerability and disasters. Second edition. Routledge. New York.

Information Platforms of DRR:

- International Strategy for Disaster Reduction: www.unisdr.org, www.wcdrr.org/

- ProVention Consortium: www.proventionconsortium.org

- SDC:www.sdc-drr.net/nw

Statistical information

- Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED): www.cred.be

Concrete experiences in the field

- Clot, N. and J. Carter (2009). Disaster Risk Reduction: A gender and livelihood

perspective. Inforesources Focus 2/2009.

- Roy, A.K., E. Studer and N. Clot. Reducing risks and protecting assets: From piloting

to mainstreaming DRR in development Initiatives. Intercooperation Bangladesh.

- IFRC, Disaster reduction programme 2001-2008, Summary of lessons learnt and

recommendations (2009).

Elaborated by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation for the DRR Swiss NGO Platform and

contributed by Caritas and the Swiss Red Cross (Core Group)/September 2011 updated

October 2014.

17 Environment and Climate Change News COP15 and COP16, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation 18 For more information, see: http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session30/doc14.pdf