Protifolon Issue 3

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Protifolon Issue 3

Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) has been high on the international agenda since the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. In January 2005, 168 governments agreed the Hyogo Framework for Action, a detailed set of priorities to minimise losses – human lives as well as community and other assets – by 2015. The five main areas of action are:

making disaster risk reduction a priority;
improving risk information and early warning;
building a culture of safety and resilience;
reducing risks in key sectors; and
strengthening preparedness for response.

Bangladesh: Clustered villages beat the floods

The effects of recurrent flooding – at least once and sometimes twice a year – in poor rural communities living along the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river in Bangladesh are severe and aggravated by climate change. While coping strategies developed over generations have helped people to survive, they are generally ill-prepared in the face of repeated flooding and ongoing erosion.

Annual flooding affects everyone. Even those who can cope lose their few assets, including their sources of income like crops, for example. The most vulnerable have no savings, no alternative skills or source of income, and no family networks to turn to for help.

Bhutan: Melting glaciers and flood risk

Bhutan is a small land-locked country in the eastern Himalayas. It has one of the most formidable mountainous terrains in the world, with peaks rising as high as 7,500 metres and the entire northern highlands covered with glaciers or snow. Temperatures are predicted to rise by at least 2ºC by 2100 and glaciers to retreat by 49cm.

Bhutan is thus becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change-related extreme weather events. Many Bhutanese live in fertile valleys along river systems that begin life in the glaciers and glacial lakes. If the lakes burst through the moraine, the lives and properties of these communities are at risk.

India : Community Disaster Resilience Fund

The Community Disaster Resilience Fund (CDRF) is a mechanism to direct resources for disaster risk reduction (DRR) to vulnerable communities. The National Alliance for Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction, a network of 170 organisations working with local communities, coordinates the fund and aims to bridge community experience with disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and to develop policies at all levels in India.

The fund aims to:

show that a funding mechanism can promote a decentralised, pro-poor community-driven approach to DRR
develop the capacity of local communities to identify their vulnerabilities and how they can reduce associated risks
improve understanding of community resources and resilience initiatives
generate lessons and resources, and form partnerships to ensure that community-led disaster resilience priorities are met.

Myanmar: Disaster Response and Resilience Learning Project

Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in May 2008 with 200 kilometre winds and tidal surges of up to four metres high. It is estimated that up to 2.4 million people were affected and at least 135,000 killed.

The Disaster Response and Resilience Learning Project is an inter-agency capacity-building effort, developed by Save the Children, to improve response and recovery capacity and to strengthen disaster risk reduction practices.

Pakistan: Use of traditional knowledge

People living in Chitral district, high in the Hindu Kush in north-west Pakistan, depend largely on natural resources. The area is remote and vulnerable to climate-change-induced water scarcity and flooding. High transportation costs, increased prices of consumer goods, and a shortage of clean water following a disaster considerably add to people’s vulnerability.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development was involved in a research project across four countries examining how local communities are adapting to water-related constraints and hazards made worse by climate change in the Himalayan region. How do people cope and respond?

Sri Lanka: Going back to indigenous rice

Climate change is causing increasing hardship and lifestyle changes in rural areas throughout Sri Lanka. It is predicted that temperatures will rise here faster than the average global rate of warming, and that extreme weather events such as cyclones, heat waves, and heavier rainfall will become more frequent.

The effects of climate change will be felt most profoundly in agriculture and food security, water and coastal resources, biodiversity, and human health. Rice yields could fall by nearly six percent with a 0.5C temperature rise – in turn leading to a reduction in Sri Lanka’s gross domestic product of 0.2 percent, as paddy salinity increases following sea level rises. Increased evaporation will boost demand for irrigated water, further contributing to water scarcity. Higher rainfall will increase soil erosion and silt up reservoirs.

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