Reducing hazard vulnerability: towards a common approach between disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Social Science
• Climate Science

Background:

• Four independent communities (disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, environmental management, poverty reduction) work to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards.
• Despite their efforts, socio-economic vulnerability to natural hazards, particularly hydro-meteorological events, is increasing.
• Hydro-meteorological hazards are causing greater economic losses and affecting more people globally.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the commonalities and differences between the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction research and policy communities.
• To propose a structured approach for dialogue and learning between multiple communities involved in vulnerability reduction.
• To address the need for enhanced collaboration and information exchange between isolated research and policy sectors.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction communities.
• Identification of key communalities and differences in their approaches and objectives.
• Proposal of three structured exercises to facilitate multi-community dialogue.

Main Results:

• Identified significant isolation between the four key research and policy communities.
• Highlighted the limited success in vulnerability reduction due to this isolation.
• Proposed specific exercises to foster inter-community learning and collaboration.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced collaboration and information exchange between disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and other relevant communities are crucial.
• Addressing the increasing vulnerability to hydro-meteorological hazards requires a unified approach.
• The proposed exercises offer a framework for building bridges between these vital research and policy areas.