Disaster Risk Management
6 items available
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These volumes present case studies conducted by the World Bank’s Disaster Management Facility (later the Hazard Risk Management Team) on understanding and managing risks associated with natural disasters and their impact on cities, economies, and investment. This series has been discontinued.
Items in this collection
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Publication
Compendium: Coastal Management Practices in West Africa - Existing and Potential Solutions to Control Coastal Erosion, Prevent Flooding and Mitigate Damage to Society
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-02-28)Erosion and flooding are the most visible consequences of coastal zone degradation in West Africa. Man-made and natural processes, aggravated by the effects of climate change, cause erosion and flooding. These threatened densely populated coasts, the nerve center of the region’s demographic and economic growth. Every year, coastal degradation takes a heavy toll on human life and socio-economic prosperity. Moreover, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections suggest that coastal erosion and flooding in West Africa is set to increase in the 21st century. Understanding the hazards and managing the coastline sustainably is a major challenge for the development of the region. The West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program (WACA) supports ongoing efforts led by countries and regional institutions to strengthen the resilience of communities and ecosystems. This is achieved by providing financing, facilitating access to knowledge and deepening dialogue around development challenges. The main objective of the Compendium: Coastal Management Practices in West Africa is to make knowledge on coastal management practices available to practitioners and decision-makers engaged in building coastal resilience in West Africa. At the same time, it informs any stakeholder concerned by risks related to coastal erosion and flooding. It complements technical catalogs on vulnerability to erosion, flood risks and flood protection infrastructure in West Africa. -
Publication
Overlooked: Examining the Impact of Disasters and Climate Shocks on Poverty in the Europe and Central Asia Region
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021-03-01)When a disaster strikes, it not only affects households’ physical assets, but also their income levels and ability to contribute to the local economy. Critically, these socio-economic disparities shape not only the severity of shocks on household-level economies, but also the duration of subsequent recovery and reconstruction efforts. Socio-economic characteristics may therefore help to determine in advance which households or communities are more likely to recover faster, and which are in need of external assistance to accelerate reconstruction efforts. This report explores the links between disaster impacts and poverty levels in select countries in the Europe and Central Asia region. -
Publication
Natural Disaster Hotspots: Case Studies
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)These case studies complement the earlier groundbreaking work of Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis published in April 2005. Three case studies address specific hazards: landslides, storm surges and drought. An additional, three case studies address regional multi-hazard situations in Sri Lanka, the Tana River basin in Kenya, and the city of Caracas, Venezuela. -
Publication
Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)Earthquakes, floods, drought, and other natural hazards cause tens of thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of injuries, and billions of dollars in economic losses each year around the world. Many billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance, emergency loans, and development aid are expended annually. Yet efforts to reduce the risks of natural hazards remain largely uncoordinated across different hazard types and do not necessarily focus on areas at highest risk of disaster. Natural Disaster Hotspots presents a global view of major natural disaster risk hotspots - areas at relatively high risk of loss from one or more natural hazards. It summarizes the results of an interdisciplinary analysis of the location and characteristics of hotspots for six natural hazards - earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, drought, and cyclones. Data on these hazards are combined with state-of-the-art data on the sub-national distribution of population and economic output and past disaster losses to identify areas at relatively high risk from one or more hazards. -
Publication
Understanding the Economic and Financial Impacts of Natural Disasters
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004)The study described here examines the short- and long-term economic, and financial impacts of natural disasters. It relies in part, on in-depth case studies of overall sensitivity to natural hazards in the small island economy of Dominica; public finance consequences of disasters in Bangladesh; and, the economic consequences of climatic variability, and the use of climatic forecasting in Malawi and southern Africa. Policy implications are drawn, and, where appropriate, recommendations are made. Finally, directions for future research, and cooperation are outlined. Major natural disasters can, and do have severe negativeshort-run economic impacts, and also appear to have adverse longer-term consequences for economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. But negative impacts are not inevitable. A full reassessment of the economic, and financial impacts of a major disaster, should be made 18 to 24 months after the event. It should be taken into account in reviewing the affected country's short-term economic performance, and the assistance strategy for the country. Vulnerability to natural hazards is determined by a complex, dynamic set of influences that include the country's economic structure, stage of development, and prevailing economic and policy conditions. The eclectic approach adopted in this study, which employed largely qualitative methods, is particularly useful in exploring the many complex, and dynamic pathways through which extreme hazard events influence an economy, and its financial system, as well as for identifying areas, and issues where further investigation, including quantification, would be worthwhile. -
Publication
Managing Disaster Risk in Emerging Economies
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2000-06)This book presents papers on several events organized by the World Bank's Disaster Management Fund (DMF). The DMF's objectives are to help the Bank provide a more strategic and rapid response to disaster emergencies and to integrate disaster prevention and mitigation measures in all Bank activities. Part I of this book on risk identification contains chapters on the economic impacts on natural disasters in developing countries, including flooding, with the example of Buenos Aires; and time scales of climate and disaster. Part II explores aspects of reducing disaster risk, such as the relationship of infrastructure, natural disasters, and poverty; flooding issues in the United States, incentives for risk management and mitigation concerning cultural heritage; issues related to single-family housing, women, and children; and climate change from a development perspective. Part III looks at strategies for developing countries to more effectively share and transfer disaster risk from the angles of risk and insurance by the poor in developing countries; financing disaster mitigation for the poor; moral dimensions of risk transfer and reduction strategies; incentives for mitigation investment and risk management to encourage public-private partnerships; and linking catastrophe insurance and mitigating disaster losses.