IPCC Report.pdf - Adam Curry

Chapter 6National Systems for Managing the Risks from Climate Extremes and DisastersWhile significant progress has been made in developing appropriatetools and methods for assessing and screening risk, many bilateral andmultilateral agencies continue to address disaster risk management andclimate change adaptation separately, and link with respective regionaland national agencies in the context of distinct international instruments(Mitchell and Van Aalst, 2008; Mitchell et al., 2010b; Gero et al., 2011).However, recent assessments suggest that the situation is improving,partially attributable to the process of authoring this Special Report andin the focus on risk management in the text of the Bali Action Plan(2007) and Cancun Agreement (2010) (Mitchell et al., 2010b; seeSection 7.3.2.2 for more detail).The diversity of national contexts requires bilateral and multilateralagencies to adopt different modalities to maximize the effectiveness oftechnical, financial, and strategic support. For example, in the Pacific andthe Caribbean, regional bodies (e.g., the Caribbean Disaster EmergencyManagement Agency) commonly operate as an intermediary, channelingresources to island countries where it is not efficient for internationalagencies to establish a permanent adaptation or risk managementfocusedpresence (Hay, 2009; Gero et al., 2011). In countries with weaknational institutions, bilateral and multilateral agencies commonly chooseto channel resources through civil society organizations with the intentionof ensuring that resources reach the poorest and most vulnerable(Wickham et al., 2009). In such situations, coordination betweenagencies can be challenging and in certain circumstances can furtherreduce the risk management capacity of government organizations(Wickham et al., 2009). However, the broad trend is to maximize thesupport to national governments by seeking to improve national ownershipof risk management and adaptation processes and in that respectsupport national governments to lead national systems (GFDRR, 2010;DFID, 2011).6.2.5. Research and CommunicationThe effectiveness of national systems for managing climate extremes anddisaster risks is highly dependent on the availability and communicationof robust and timely scientific data and information (Sperling andSzekely, 2005; Thomalla et al., 2006; CACCA, 2010) and traditionalknowledge (Mercer et al., 2007; Kelman et al., 2011; see Box 5-7) to informnot only community-based decisions and policymakers who managenational approaches to disaster risk and climate change adaptation, butalso researchers who provide further analytical information to supportsuch decisions.Scientific and research organizations range from specialized researchcenters and universities, to regional organizations, to national researchagencies, multilateral agencies, and CSOs playing differential roles, butgenerally continue to divide into disaster risk management or climatechange adaptation communities. Scientific research bodies play importantroles in managing climate extremes and disaster risks by: (a) supportingthematic programs to study the evolution and consequences of pasthazard events, such as cyclones, droughts, sandstorms, and floods;(b) analyzing time-and-space dependency in patterns of weather-relatedrisks; (c) building cooperative networks for early warning systems,modeling, and long-term prediction; (d) actively engaging in technicalcapacity building and training; (e) translating scientific evidence intoadaptation practice; (f) collating traditional knowledge and lessonslearned for wider dissemination; and (g) translating scientific informationinto user-friendly forms for community consumption (Sperling andSzekely, 2005; Thomalla et al., 2006; Aldunce and González, 2009).Disaster practitioners largely focus on making use of short-term weatherforecasting and effective dissemination and communication of hazardinformation and responses (Thomalla et al., 2006). Such climate changeexpertise can typically be found in meteorological agencies, environmentor energy departments, and in academic institutions (Sperling and Szekely,2005), while disaster risk assessments have been at the core of manymultilateral and civil society organizations and national disastermanagement authorities (Sperling and Szekely, 2005; Thomalla et al.,2006). Although progress has been reported in the communication andavailability of scientific information, there is still a lack of, for example,sufficient local or sub-national data on hazards and risk assessments tounderpin area-specific disaster risk management (Chung, 2009; UNISDR,2009c).6.3. Planning and Policies for IntegratedRisk Management, Adaptation, andDevelopment ApproachesGiven that learning will come from doing and in spite of differences,there are many ways that countries can learn from each other inprioritizing their climate and disaster risks; in mainstreaming climatechange adaptation and disaster risk management into plans, policies,and processes for development; and in securing additional financial andhuman resources needed to meet increasing demands (UNDP, 2002;Thomalla et al., 2006; Schipper, 2009). This subsection will addressframeworks for national disaster risk management and climate changeadaptation planning and policies (Section 6.3.1), the mainstreaming ofplans and policies nationally (Section 6.3.2), and the various sectoraldisaster risk management and climate change adaptation optionsavailable for national systems (Section 6.3.3), recognizing the range ofactors engaged in these processes as described in Section 6.2.6.3.1. Developing and Supporting NationalPlanning and Policy ProcessesNational and sub-national government and statutory agencies havea range of planning and policy options to help create the enablingenvironments for departments, public service agencies, the privatesector, and individuals to act (UNDP, 2002; Heltberg et al., 2009; OECD,2009; ONERC, 2009; Hammill and Tanner, 2010). When consideringdisaster risk management and adaptation to climate change actions, itis often the scale of the potential climate and disaster risks and impacts,349