DISASTERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Learning Objectives

1. To gain a more complex understanding of disasters.

2. To understand the correlation between disasters and climate change.

3. To understand the concept of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and the role of built environment professionals.

CHALLENGING PRACTICE: MODULE HANDBOOK

What is a “Disaster”?

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction [UNDRR], defines disaster as, “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope with using its own resources” (2021). Disasters may emerge at the scale of local communities or at national, international, and global scales. Disasters may develop gradually over time, as is the case for disasters based on slow-onset events such as drought and rising sea levels; they may also emerge suddenly through rapid-onset events like earthquakes and typhoons (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2018). Both the UNDRR (2021) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies [IFRC] (2021) emphasise that disasters are products of vulnerabilities and inabilities which prevent a society from withstanding the disruptive effects of hazards.

Natural disasters?

The term “natural disaster” is questioned by those who recognise that disasters are products of deepseated social inequalities related to race, class, gender, religion and other power imbalances (e.g. Squires and Hartman, 2007; Islam and Winkel, 2017). Naturally occurring hazards become disasters when societies develop, build, and construct in ways that are blind to ecological as well as social risks (Squires and Hartman, 2007). Mami Mizutori (the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction) asserted that “there is no such thing as a natural disaster” given that human activities driven by misguided notions of progress — including dependence on fossil fuels, unplanned urbanisation, and environmental destruction — are the main contributors to the increasing intensity and scale of disasters in lowand middle-income countries (McClean, 2021).

Mizutori’s verdict marked the sixth anniversary of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

(2015-2030). This is the global agreement among UN Member States to substantially reduce disaster risk and losses through, among other key priorities, “building back better” in recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction (UNDRR, 2020-2021).

The attribution of disasters to human activities is by no means a denial of natural processes; indeed, typhoons, droughts and blizzards are natural events and need to be understood through such disciplines as climatology and physical geography (Smith, 2006). However, the emergence of a disaster does not ultimately depend on the location of a natural event. To illustrate this point, Smith offers the example of Hurricane Ivan in the Caribbean in September 2004. Ivan caused the deaths of 27 people in Florida, nearly 100 in Granada, but none in Cuba, which was directly in the hurricane’s path. The UN and Oxfam credited the comparatively limited impact of the hurricane in

Cuba to several factors, including: early education about the importance of disaster preparedness; government provision of ample food supplies and medical services; the establishment of a worldclass meteorological institute; and the involvement of local communities across the various stages of disaster management, from preparedness and response to recovery and reconstruction (also see Los Angeles Times, 2005; IFRC, 2021). Smith (2006) thus reiterates that disasters are only secondarily technical and are primarily political.

Disasters and climate change

The proportion of all disasters that can be traced to climate change and extreme weather events has increased substantially, from 76% in the 2000s to 83% in the 2010s (IFRC World Disasters Report, 2020). The last decade saw the impact of climateand weather-related disasters on 1.7 billion people across the globe; with heatwaves and storms accounting for the greatest number of deaths (IFRC World Disasters Report, 2020). Increasing temperature extremes and global warming trends are projected to continue to affect water availability, food production, the growth and distribution of plant species, and rising sea levels leading to coastal erosion. Climate change is also projected to increasingly exacerbate the challenges of urban development and industrialisation, including challenges related to human health, livelihoods, security, and natural resource management (Auffhammer, 2019).

Climate change is particularly significant at present because it is extremely likely to be caused by human activity associated with industrialisation and urbanisation since the mid-twentieth century, which has developed at an unprecedented rate over the course of decades to millennia

(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2018). Buildings account for 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions through their construction and maintenance. As such, shifts to more sustainable built environment practices are key to arresting climate change and its effects (Fitz and Kransy, 2019; Xuereb, 2020). Indeed, climate change is the “fundamental design problem of our time” (Cramer, 2020), and architecture and urbanism serve as fertile ground for embracing alternative ways of life that attend to the values and voices of those most affected by climate change and disaster (Escobar, 2018; Fitz and Kransy, 2019; Xuereb, 2021).

What is being done globally to address climate change as a driver of disasters?

In 2015, representatives of 196 countries met in Paris for the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC]. The outcome was an international and legally binding treaty, the Paris Agreement, that encapsulates the ambitious and multi-sectoral aim to limit global warming to below two degrees. There are also efforts to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience on a global scale through exploring possibilities for aligning the climate change adaptation goals stated in the Paris Agreement with two other international policy frameworks: The Sendai Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, 2017).

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

To effectively reduce the risk of disasters, one should start by understanding their causes. Analysing vulnerabilities and communities’ capacity to cope, through assessments and evaluations, activates the development of successful Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies. Ideally, these should, in the urban context, strengthen building structures and public infrastructures through urban planning and geotechnical surveys to become resilient to potential hazards. They should also strengthen communities and enhance their capacity to cope in the event of a hazard to eventually create “resilient communities”.

Various cities such as Tokyo in Japan or La Havana in Cuba have proven the benefits of building stronger communities by prioritising DRR approaches. They have understood how their societies function, and in their own ways have adapted to their needs by developing strategies which increase communities’ capacity to cope, and reduce the risks of facing disasters. They have adopted methods such as building hurricane proof shelters, schools and public buildings; they have trained entire populations in schools and office buildings to create a culture of safety; they have worked with grassroots organisations, while also implementing appropriate policies at national and regional levels.

Built environment professionals have an important role in DRR. Their impact on cities and on the fabric of buildings can result in reducing vulnerabilities and strengthening cities’ coping mechanisms for facing disasters. To reduce risks to hazards, all developmental projects should identify potential risks, vulnerabilities, human capacity and local resources that help to make communities resilient (link: Community Resilience) before designing a DRR framework, pre- or post-disaster plan and mitigation. Professor Ian Davis, expert in Shelter, Reconstruction and Disaster Risk Reduction (1978), emphasises the fact that local communities, their capacities and resources are frequently undervalued and they must be acknowledged before designing any successful disaster response. Built environment professionals need to be aware of the challenges of reconstruction liability, land tenure issues, and the psycho-social effect of their interventions (limiting the victimisation of populations, enabling local livelihoods, self-help initiatives and innovative thinking). Therefore, from day one of their involvement in a disaster response or a DRR project, professionals need to be aware of the immediate and long-term impacts of their interventions on the lives of affected populations.