Chapter 1

Global Standards for Disaster Risk

Reduction

Tehmina Khan and Saeid Eslamian

Abstract The main focus in this chapter is on natural disasters. There are various
types of natural disasters which occur globally every year and which cause loss of
human lives, economic losses, infrastructure damage as well as displacement of
populations. In order to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, immediate and
timely effective response actions are required. Long-term planning is also necessary
to reduce future negative impacts of natural disasters. There are global standards
and practices in place to undertake emergency response actions as well as long-term
planning and implementation of resilience measures for risk management and miti-
gation. In this chapter, various types of natural disasters and strategies for disaster
response are discussed. Factors which impact disaster response are analysed. The
focus is on types of natural disasters which create material impacts globally and the
strategies for disaster risk reduction.

Keywords Natural disasters · Disaster risks · Risk reduction and mitigation ·

Strategies · Global Standards

1 Introduction

United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

defines a disaster as:

T. Khan (*)
RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]
S. Eslamian
Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Center of Excellence in Risk
Management and Natural Hazards, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 3

S. Eslamian, F. Eslamian (eds.), Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72196-1_1
4 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread

human, material, economic, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected
community or society to cope using its own resources. (UNISDR, 2009).

A natural disaster needs to be considered from the above perspective of human,

material, economic, or environmental losses as a result of the event. Adequate avail-
ability of resources is a critical element; without proper resources, emergency and
crisis management as well as long-term resilience planning is hard to achieve. A
critical element of strategic planning for emergency and crisis management in the
short-term and long-term resilience building is disaster risk reduction.
Disaster risk reduction involves transformation to achieve preservation of the
state of a system (Alexander, 2013). Strength of a human society is defined as its
ability to devise ways to resist disaster and maintain integrity while adapting to
circumstances produced by the disaster to lessen the associated impacts (Alexander,
2012). In the context of disaster risk reduction, resilience is specifically considered
as “the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist,
absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and
efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential
basic structures and functions” (UNISDR, 2009). As implied in this definition, to
achieve preservation and restoration, efficient and timely allocation of available
resources is critical.
At a global scale, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) aims for
reduction of disaster risk and losses (UNDRR, 2019), human, material, economic,
and/or environmental losses. According to UNDRR, Disaster Risk Reduction aims
to mitigate new and existing disaster risks and aims to increase resilience of societ-
ies, systems, and processes. The key areas to which disaster reduction relates to
include climate change, urbanisation, displacement, pandemics, and protracted cri-
ses; situations in which a large portion of population faces heightened risks of death,
disease, or breakdown of livelihoods; as well as financial systems collapses
(UNDRR, 2019).
UNDRR operates to implement the SENDAI Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction (2015–2030). The framework’s main aim is to achieve major reduction
of disaster risk and associated loss of lives, livelihoods, negative health impacts, and
negative impacts on economic, physical, social, cultural, and environmental assets
at various societal levels ranging from individuals to businesses, communities, and
countries (UNDRR, 2019).
As far as global disasters are concerned, they have been categorised into human-­
caused and natural disasters which impact thousands of people every year. Human-­
caused disasters are subclassified as industrial accidents, shootings, acts of terrorism,
and incidents of mass violence. Other incidents of mass trauma include infectious
disease outbreaks and community unrest (Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, 2019).
Natural disasters include tornadoes and severe storms, hurricanes and tropical
storms, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and drought (Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, 2019). Natural Disasters Association has provided
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 5

further categories of natural disasters which include tsunamis, earthquakes, volca-

noes, cold and ice storms, avalanches, snow and hailstorms, landslides, pestilence
and disease, and global warming. This classification is used as the underlying prem-
ise of covering various forms of natural disasters. Thus, this chapter focuses on the
following global natural disasters, their impacts, and risk reduction strategies: tsu-
namis, earthquakes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, heat and drought, wildfires, ice
storms, volcanic eruptions, flooding, infectious disease outbreaks, and global warm-
ing. The focus is on natural disasters as global climate change is resulting in
increased frequency of natural disaster events, and the multiple impacts of natural
disasters are far more than those of human caused disasters.
The aim in this chapter is to present a global picture of the types of natural disas-
ter risks faced recently. Risk reduction strategies implemented are also discussed by
going through examples of the various types of actions undertaken to mitigate the
impacts of natural disaster risks. Factors which can negatively impact efficient
disaster risk management are also discussed. A key limitation of this study is a con-
textual focus as this chapter provides an overview rather than deep analyses of spe-
cific disaster contexts. Pagett and Eslamian (2021) will discuss in depth the
principles behind disaster risks and resilience, in the urban context in an upcoming
volume. Thus, principles are not covered in this chapter.

2 Global Natural Disasters

According to Ritchie and Roser (2019), the number of natural disasters has shown
an increasing trend since 1900, with the highest level of natural disasters occurring
in 2005. The highest occurring natural disaster globally has been flooding, followed
by extreme weather, extreme temperatures, earthquakes, drought, landslides, wild-
fires, and volcanic activity. At the same time, global annual deaths from all-natural
disasters have been decreasing. Earthquakes have caused most deaths, followed by
extreme temperatures in this decade. Wildfires have also remained a cause of fatali-
ties consistently in the last two decades. Deaths from natural disasters worldwide
have ranged from 30,000 plus to less than 10,000 since 2011 (EM-DAT, 2019).
Although fatalities from natural disasters have decreased, other impacts of natu-
ral disasters remain. These impacts include injuries, homelessness, and international
and internal displacement (where an individual is forced to leave the dwelling but
remains within the country’s borders). Numbers of people who are currently inter-
nationally displaced from natural disasters are in the millions (The World Bank,
2019). Economic costs from natural disasters range in the billions and are currently
around the 100 billion US$ per annum globally (EM-DAT, 2019).
6 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

2.1 Global Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters

Economic impacts from natural disasters can extend beyond local and national
impacts. The main reason for this is the potential for chain reactions to countries
where the disaster has not occurred (AON, 2015). The main direct impacts on busi-
nesses and individuals in affected areas are uninsured losses. Uninsured losses can
be multiple times more than insured losses. Global supply chains can be negatively
impacted by a natural disaster as well. For example, the Thai floods in 2011 caused
a major shortage of computer hard drives, which increased prices of hard drives
substantially (AON, 2015).

2.2 Strategic Response to Natural Disasters

The only strategic response to reducing risks from natural disasters relates to the
recovery stage. Thus, the focus must be on resilience in the planning and recovery
stages. Significant change usually occurs as a resilience strategy in the recovery
phase of a major disaster in the following areas: socioeconomic, organisational,
political, and environmental (Birkmann & Fernando, 2008; UNISDR, 2009).
Typically, internationally, the approach is to gather data on loss inventories, and
the focus is on emergency relief activities (Relief Web, 2019). Postrecovery evalua-
tions (setting and comparing with benchmarks) relating to relief and recovery, lead-
ing towards positive changes in policy or practices, are not usually undertaken
(Birkmann & Fernando, 2008). Although they are a critical resilience strategy, they
are rarely an element of global environmental risk management (van Eijndhoven
et al., 2001). Economically advanced countries, which have adequate resources to
undertake such evaluations, are able to implement this critical step. These evalua-
tions are important to create changes in future approaches to risk management and
mitigation as well as to implement changes in recovery and reconstruction post
disaster, to avoid repetition of mistakes that might have had multiple negative
impacts previously. Factors which need to be considered include not only resource
allocations but also quality of recovery which includes disaster risk reduction.
Birkmann and Fernando (2008) have established a direct connection between
quality of impacts and quality of change. Quality of impact refers to an event which
would have direct impacts created by the nature (severity, exposure, and susceptibil-
ity) of the hazard and existing vulnerabilities. Effects would include damage to
health and livelihoods with temporary or permanent loss. Quality of change, on the
other hand, is a response occurrence because of the hazard event. It is mediated
through reflexive and reflective actions (unintended and/ or intended/ planned
actions). Quality of change is complex and is impacted by numerous factors; it cre-
ates medium- and long-term consequences. Change can be at various levels, includ-
ing social, political, structural, and procedural levels. It is important for businesses,
regardless of their size, to have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan in
place in case it is hit by a disaster.
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 7

Different classifications of natural disasters and strategies for responding to each

type are covered below.

2.3 Tsunamis

A tsunami occurs when a large body of water is displaced, from seismic activity,
landslides, or underwater explosions. Damage from tsunamis can range from little
to great devastation. Although a tsunami can occur anywhere, countries around the
Pacific Ocean are most susceptible to tsunamis. The key predisaster strategy is the
establishment of warning systems including warning sirens and evacuation routes to
minimise loss of lives from tsunamis. As far as tsunami-caused property damage is
concerned, risk mitigation strategies are much harder to implement. The main rea-
son for this is due to the potential for continued damage during surge and recession
of the tsunami.

2.4 Earthquakes

An earthquake causes the Earth’s surface to shake or vibrate. Fault lines or plate
boundaries are common locations of earthquakes. Earth’s tectonic plates include the
African Plate, Antarctic Plate, Australian Plate, Eurasian Plate, North American
Plate, South American Plate, and Pacific Plate. Earthquakes happen without warn-
ing. Earthquake response can vary between countries. For example, in North
America, seismically reinforced and state-of-the-­art emergency operations centres
have been established. Web-based technologies are also in place for situational
awareness.
Legislation such as in California has required clear incident command system
during emergencies. In California, there is a five-level emergency response system
in place which facilitates flow of emergency information and resources within and
between relevant organisations (Raths, 2013). Social media including twitter has
been established to relay critical information as well as text-based services are set in
place to communicate information (Raths, 2013). A group which brings together
community agencies has been established for coherent emergency response. A utili-
ties association has also been established which can work together to provide
energy, telecommunications, water, and gas in case of an earthquake in San
Francisco. Plans for infrastructure rebuilding have also been established based on
detailed research to identify best practices in the postdisaster recovery stage
(Raths, 2013).
Countries that are not so advanced with the establishment of planned systems,
for example, Nepal, experience international civil society involvement in the recov-
ery phase. For example, World Vision, through its innovation lab, in collaboration
with Field Ready (based in the United States), developed a pipe through 3D printing
8 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

which was used to repair water supply systems damaged in Nepal’s 2015 earth-
quake (World Vision, 2019).

2.5 Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are caused by moist, warm air. Cool air moving downwards and
warm air moving upwards create energy and electricity which result in lightning
and thunder. Severe thunderstorms cause global economic loss of more than 10 bil-
lion US$ per year as a result of damage to property and agriculture as well as loss
of lives (Allen, 2018). Key phenomena associated with thunderstorms include large
hail, strong winds, and tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms are classified as a
global threat. Research on the impact of global climate change on the severity of
thunderstorms is still in infancy, but the impact of climate change, especially global
warming on active hail periods, has been linked with warming climates and increas-
ing temperatures, while decreasing hail frequencies have been linked with increas-
ing melting level and changes to rising freezing altitude (Allen, 2018; Dessens
et al., 2015).
Global responses to thunderstorms include communications from national
weather services which provide warnings a few hours before the thunderstorm. The
onus is mostly on households to develop and implement a disaster plan. This plan
needs to include assessment of risk, identification of a safe place in the dwelling
which does not have windows, and skylights or glass doors to take refuge during the
thunderstorm. Lightning is a major hazard associated with a thunderstorm, and the
key recommendation communicated is to assume a crouch position on the ground
with minimal contact with the ground. First aid training is also recommended as
important response strategy to minimise risk exposure (National Disaster Education
Coalition, 1999).
Typhoons (a tropical cyclone) which are more prevalent in Asian countries have
major impacts on business operations, bringing them to a halt and cause fatalities
(Needham, 2018). In most Asian regions, the predisaster focus is primarily on evac-
uation, and postdisaster focus is on disaster assessment and recovery. On the other
hand, in countries such as Australia, there is a continuous process linked to the event
(immediate recovery stage) and long-term strategic detailed data analyses, risk
assessments, and planning. Technological tools such as wind field modelling and
community vulnerability assessments which include impacts on housing, demo-
graphics, and infrastructure are undertaken to provide a comprehensive risk assess-
ment which includes possible casualties and economic losses (Geoscience Australia,
2009). The goal of such assessments is to mitigate negative impacts including
fatalities.
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 9

2.6 Tornadoes

According to Natural Disasters Association, tornadoes are violently rotating col-

umns of air which come in contact with ground. They are caused by warm humid air
streams combining with cold dry air streams at high speed. The more susceptible
areas globally to tornadoes include Tornado Alley, comprising of Oklahoma, Texas,
Kansas, and Nebraska in the United States, Great Britain as well as Bangladesh and
Argentina. The degree of damage caused depends on the severity of the tornado and
ranges from light to incredible.
Impact of climate change on tornadoes is currently being researched, but there
are complexities which need to be addressed before impacts of global climate
change on tornadoes can be established. These complexities include the lack of
understanding of the impact of global warming on atmospheric instability and wind
shear (Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2020). Also, it is difficult to under-
take simulations of tornadoes by climate modelling.
Fatalities from tornadoes in the United States have decreased due to advance
warnings of extreme weather conditions; economic losses from tornadoes still end
up being billions of dollars, up to 30 billion US$ per annum (Centre for Climate and
Energy Solutions, 2020).
Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions (2020) has identified the following
disaster risk reduction strategies in the case of tornadoes:
More stringent building codes in tornado susceptible areas.
Continued research on tornadoes and the impact of global climate change.
Timely issuing of warnings and following of protocols in case of emergency.
Protocols have been identified as moving out of a vehicle or mobile house to a
basement or safe room or laying on the ground in a ditch or hollow. In a building,
staying away from doors and windows is recommended.

2.7 Heat and Drought

A drought is a period of unexpected rainfall deficit which causes a shortfall of water.

Drought effects can occur slowly, and impacts include lack of drinking water, loss
of vegetation and farmland as well as loss of livestock and human lives due to fam-
ine. There are two types of droughts: meteorological droughts which relate to
decrease in precipitation in a region, and hydrological drought which relates to the
impact of decreased precipitation on streamflow, soil moisture, reservoir and lake
levels, and groundwater recharge (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2019).
Agricultural droughts occur when available water supplies are not able to meet the
crop water demands (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2019).
Climate change has a strong impact on creating worse drought conditions as
increase in frequency and intensity of hot days causes decline in cool seasonal rain-
fall (Climate Council of Australia Ltd., 2018). Key impacts of droughts include
10 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

fatalities, impact on nutrition, infectious diseases, forest fires, negative impacts on

mental health, negative impact on water supplies, decline in aquatic biodiversity,
loss of vegetation and soil, as well as negative impacts on economies (Climate
Council of Australia Ltd., 2018).
As far as strategic responses to droughts are concerned, they focus on short-term
measures including temporary water conservation, water use efficiency improve-
ments, water transfers, and increased use of groundwater (Union of Concerned
Scientists, 2019). As for global standards aimed at long-term drought risk reduction,
the following strategies are proposed:
Better monitoring and measuring of water supplies at national levels.
Reduction in indoor water use through efficient appliances, technologies, and
behaviours.
Reduction in outdoor water use by implementing drought-tolerant landscaping
and more water-efficient irrigation technologies.
Increased recycling and reusing of water, capturing, and using of storm water,
grey and waste water.
More strategic use of ground water (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2019).
People living in economically developing regions are most susceptible to drought
impacts. Various strategies have been adopted to minimise the negative impacts of
droughts (Strategies provided by Practical Action, 2019). These include rainwater
catchment tanks where water is collected from roofs of various structures, drip irri-
gation which includes the use of a water harvesting tank, and the connection of
hoses through buckets which allow water to be dripped on the roots of plants.
Treadle pump irrigation uses pedal power to get water from wells. Sand dams
require the construction of a deep trench in a valley or stream which reaches the bed
rock. A wall is built across the river channels to trap and hold back the sand brought
by a river during flooding. The sand stores water and filters the water to render it fit
for drinking.

2.8 Wildfires

Wildfires occur when vegetation causes uncontrolled fire. Droughts and high tem-
peratures have a major role to play in causing wildfires. Increasing wildfires have
been linked with climate change (Marlon et al., 2012). Risk of wildfires depends on
a range of factors including temperature, soil moisture, and vegetation which can
act as fuel (Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2020). Climatic changes
which include warmer, drier conditions, drought, and longer fire seasons are poten-
tially increasing risk of wildfires (Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2020).
Key strategies which can be applied globally to reduce risks from wildfires
include fire-resistant buildings and perimeter clearing around the building
(Crawford, 2016). From a home protection perspective, Home Ignition Zone (HIZ)
is an important strategic consideration. HIZ focuses on the use of fire-resistant
materials, correct design and maintenance of the structure, and the creation of
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 11

resilient landscapes (Calkin et al., 2014). The use of big data analytical technology
is becoming prevalent to understand and implement effective risk identification and
management strategies.

2.9 Cold and Ice Storms

These occur due to freezing rain, and when the rain comes in contact with a surface,
it creates a smooth slippery surface. Increasing occurrences of ice storms in North
America are being attributed to warm air masses, but detailed research on the impact
of climate change on ice storms is required (Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical
Contamination, 2016).
Advanced data analytics including modelling of winter storm risk encompasses
numerical weather modelling and statistical analyses of historical events. It is being
used to understand implications regarding risk sharing through insurance (RMS,
2019). Key societal impacts identified which need to be addressed through risk
management include power outages, secondary effects including carbon monoxide
poisoning and fire, lack of heat, transportation disruptions, closing of businesses
and schools as well as economic losses (Call, 2010). Measures which can be taken
to reduce electricity disruptions include trimming of trees away from power lines,
burying electricity lines underground, and clearer communications when power out-
ages occur regarding restoration estimates (Call, 2010).

2.10 Volcanic Eruptions

Volcanic eruptions occur due to magma penetration through weaknesses in the

Earth’s surface. At present, there are 500 active volcanoes globally. In one year,
10% of these erupt. As far as climate change is concerned, volcanic eruptions release
toxic gases and solids which can stay in the stratosphere for a month (Wolfe, 2019).
Large-scale volcanic activity can influence climate patterns for years, and sulphuric
acid can stay in the stratosphere for years (Wolfe, 2019). Major eruptions also scat-
ter solar radiation which can last for a few years. Anthropogenic emissions can
make consequences of volcanic eruptions on the global climate system worse due to
increase in chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) (Stenchikov et al., 1998).
Natural Disasters Association has clarified that fatalities from volcanic eruptions
occur mostly due to indirect impacts and hazards such as famine due to crop dam-
age and mudflows. Most recent volcanic eruption in Democratic Republic of Congo
in 2002 destroyed 15% of the City of Goma and killed 150 people; it left 75% of the
population displaced. Key global standards for disaster response in this case include
critical information communications through radio or TV, preparedness for evacua-
tion, avoidance of downwind and downstream from the erupted volcano, and seek-
ing shelter indoors. After the eruption comes the rebuilding phase as ash fall can
cause major property damage (Habitat for Humanity International, 2019).
12 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

According to Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) (2019), societal

impacts of volcanic eruptions can include risk of food and water contamination,
fatalities or harm to livestock, damage to crops and interruption to utilities, com-
munications and transport as well as access to health services.

2.11 Flooding

According to Union of Concerned Scientists (2019), average global sea levels have
increased by 8 inches since 1880 and are rising by a higher rate in the Gulf of Mexico.
Natural Disasters Association has described flooding as the most common envi-
ronmental hazard. There are two types of floods: river (when a river over spills its
banks) or coastal (low-lying land being flooded by seawater). Flash floods occur due
to increasing water levels from high rainfall intensity, duration, due to a surface that
supports flash flooding and features of the area which promote flash flooding. Storm
floods occur in coastal areas due to low atmospheric pressure, high tides, and storm
surges. Dams and levees can fail as a result if flood intensity is more than anticipated.
Economic damage from floods until 2016 has ranged between 40 billion US$
and a lowest figure of 11.6 billion US$ (Statistica, 2019). Other damages caused by
flooding include fatalities, displacement, property damage, and interruptions to
critical processes including business operations.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency Federal Insurance and Mitigation
Administration (2019) body in the United States has developed a detailed manage-
ment strategy which includes these factors as key steps for flood risk management:
Insurance coverage.
Building of levees and floodwalls which are human made structures used to con-
tain, control, or divert water flow.
Implementation of a continuous process to analyse, assess, and develop mitiga-
tion strategies to decrease flood risk.
Estimations of frequency and magnitude.
Fragility analysis of levee and other systems.
Risk assessment of levee breach and inundation assessment.
Consequences and impacts analyses development.
Use of modern technology for data analysis and computational mapping
(National Research Council, 2013).
Although flood warning systems have been developed and used in economically
developing and developed countries, losses from floods and flood impacts continue
to be more pronounced in developing countries (Keoduangsine & Goodwin, 2012).
The main reasons for greater impacts of flooding in economically developing coun-
tries include lack of use of advanced technologies in the development and imple-
mentation of flood management strategies including levees, flood warning systems,
and evacuation procedures. Flood damage continues to remain as a serious issue for
countries like India, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Laos which have been
identified as most at risk of river floods (Luo et al., 2015).
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 13

2.12 Pestilence and Disease

According to Natural Disasters Association, six diseases are responsible for 90% of
infection-related deaths in people under 44 years of age. These diseases are AIDS,
malaria, tuberculosis (TB), measles, diarrhoeal diseases, and respiratory illnesses.
More than 40 million people are impacted by human immunodeficiency virus, and
Sub-Saharan African region is the most impacted. HIV infections are also prevalent
in Europe and Asia with four million people diagnosed in India.
More than two million people succumb to Malaria every year with 90% of cases
in Sub-Saharan Africa. TB fatalities are more than three million per year, while
there are 30 million cases of measles per year, and one million children die from
measles every year.
Key steps which have been undertaken globally to address infectious diseases
which impact at such massive scale include the development of a Global Fund to
fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (Nakatani, 2016). Also, the development of the
International Health Regulations (IHR) Public Health Treaty in 2005. This Treaty
requires countries to report unusual health related events. There has been an increase
in the amount of funding and the number of funding bodies interested in providing
budgets to address diseases. As a result of these efforts and resource allocations,
AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 30%, TB-related mortalities have decreased
by more than 40%, and there has been a dramatic positive reduction in child mortal-
ity from infectious diseases (Nakatani, 2016). World Health Assembly (WHO) has
involved multiple stakeholders in the implementation of global health strategies
which have included vaccination programs, resource mobilisation, and investment
planning (Nakatani, 2016).

2.13 Global Climate Change

Natural Disasters Association has identified global warming as a threat in its own
right. As identified for each type of disaster, global climate change attributed to
anthropogenic activities has the potential to create change in occurrence and or
impact of natural disasters. The increase in Earth’s temperature by 0.6 degrees
Celsius since the middle of the previous century has been established. Carbon diox-
ide and its equivalents are the key causes of increase in the Earth’s temperature, and
they are attributable to fossil fuels consumption, deforestation as well as agricul-
tural activities.
The two serious impacts of global warming are increase in Earth’s temperatures
and increase in sea levels (National Disasters Association, 2019). These two factors
have a direct impact on increased risks of disasters such as storms, heat and drought,
tsunamis, and flooding.
United Nations is a key player in promoting international cooperation on climate
change. Its Framework Convention on Climate Change has the key objective to
14 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

stabilise greenhouse gas emissions to prevent human interference with the climate
system (Australian Government, 2019). Various international agreements such as
the Paris Agreement have been ratified to give them the status of international law.
Under the Paris Agreement, signatory countries have agreed to limit average
increase in global temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius. Countries have also
agreed to undertake national strategies to reduce carbon emissions, promote trans-
parency and accountability around action, and monitor progress as well as imple-
ment resilience strategies (Australian Government, 2019). International carbon
market rules have been finalised at the end of 2019 (Australian Government, 2019).
The Kyoto Protocol ratification requires developed countries signatories to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. Other international agreements to reduce emissions
include the Cancun Agreements as well as International Civil Aviation and Maritime
Organization agreements to reduce emissions through fuel efficiency and adoption
of alternative fuels.
Use of technologies to influence carbon emissions reduction is also being con-
sidered at national levels in the form of smart grids, off grid access to electricity,
carbon capture and storage, sustainable biofuels, and use of solar power, clean
energy, and alternative fuels (Australian Government, 2019).
The key initiatives that are being used to promote global action to address cli-
mate change include the following:
International Solar Alliance to promote wider adoption of solar technology espe-
cially in countries with high levels of solar energy.
Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change which supports the development of
assessment and impact reports which feed into the Paris Agreement’s global report-
ing requirements on initiatives and action to tackle global climate change.
International Partnership for Blue Carbon raises awareness about coastal blue
carbon systems and aims to strengthen cooperation between governments and
research institutions to protect and restore the ecosystems. International Coral Reef
Initiative has a focus on world’s coral reefs resilience. The Coral Triangle Initiative
focuses on Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and
Solomon Islands and addresses issue relating to food security, climate change, and
marine biodiversity (Australian Government, 2019).

3 Disaster Risk and Resilience Complexities

In the above section, various types of natural disasters and the risks that they pose
are covered, as well as strategies for disaster risk management. In this section, fac-
tors which can interfere with efficient risk management are discussed. Promotion of
accountabilities for effective risk management especially from governments needs
to be considered and implemented to mitigate the effects of natural disaster
occurrences.
Resilience as a strategy for disaster risk reduction would be impacted by multiple
societal and political factors which can in some circumstances exacerbate rather
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 15

than reduce disaster risk event impacts. Drury et al. (2005) have found foreign pol-
icy and domestic factors as overriding determinants for disaster assistance alloca-
tions. Political considerations impact both the decision to grant disaster assistance
as the well as the amount of aid for disaster recovery.
Political considerations may also include the generating of favourable political
contexts from the disaster, and the disaster might be used as a window of opportu-
nity (van Eijndhoven et al. (2001). Political discourse which might emerge may end
up being symbolic and superficial without backing the case for more meaningful
involvement in disaster recovery as promoted by scientific organisations. In other
instances, for example in the case of Sri Lanka, with resource allocations post disas-
ter (Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004), there might be increased social tensions in the
disaster response stage as well as risk of intensification of armed conflict (Birkmann
& Fernando, 2008).
In spite of droughts being a major threat from global climate change, interna-
tional agencies are deferring risk management of droughts and droughts being
declared to national governments (Pearce, 2015). An international UN body, to pro-
vide global drought early warning system, has not been established so far.
Forecasting mechanisms which should consider the impacts of droughts on local
water and food supplies are extremely unreliable, especially in countries most at
risk (Pearce, 2015). There have been criticisms of drought response as being
delayed. There have also been assertions of agricultural mismanagement which has
failed to prevent crop and livestock loss (Pearce, 2015). Drought declaration itself
is politicised; as in some countries, it is considered shameful to declare. International
help is resisted. Nevertheless, droughts can have serious social implications such as
the civil war in Syria and mass exodus from the country (Kelly, 2015).
Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Disaster Risk Resilience Complexities
COVID-19 is a current pandemic which is posing as a material risk to health sys-
tems around the globe (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters,
CRED, 2020). So far there have been more than 40 million cases and more than one
million deaths from COVID-19 (Centre for Systems and Engineering, John Hopkins
University, 2020). COVID-19 has caused multiple negative social and economic
impacts for individuals, households, firms, and institutions (Rondeau et al., 2020).
Trillions of dollars of emergency fiscal amounts have been deployed; global output
of emerging economies is contracting, and there is potential risk of hundreds of mil-
lions more being pushed into poverty (Rondeau et al., 2020).
CRED (2020) has identified potential complexities associated with COVID-19
restrictive measures including social distancing and wearing of face masks and
management of a major natural disaster (which has not occurred so far since the
progression of COVID-19) such as heat waves. There is a strong suggestion that
intersecting risks’ management is going to be much more difficult in the case of
dealing with the pandemic and a major natural disaster. Preventative measures
against the spread of COVID-19 can act in direct contradiction to emergency and
recovery measures which are required to deal with a natural disaster in the short
term. Long-term resilience building is also potentially at risk due to financial
constraints.
16 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

As Rondeau et al. (2020) have pointed out, there are too many uncertainties asso-
ciated with COVID-19. Combined with a major natural disaster occurrence, it has
the potential to pose as a major challenge to risk management. Even advanced risk
management modelling assumptions no longer hold in the current COVID-19 envi-
ronment. The complexities associated with multiple factors at micro and macro lev-
els, including changed behaviours and lack of appropriate climate change-related
policies, could mean lack of a clear course of action for crisis risk management and
long-term resilience planning when facing intersecting risks associated with
COVID-19 and a major natural disaster.

4 Risk Management Standards

Risk management standards use tools, indicators, and language that can pool
resources from diverse stakeholders and effectively ground both business strategies
and policy-making objectives.
All organisations deal with risk in the same way: by identifying it, analysing it,
and then evaluating whether the risk should be modified by risk treatment. Risk
management standards are a useful tool in representing and logically organising this
process in a way that makes decision-making open to inputs from different stake-
holders, and accountable to the public, as illustrated in Fig. 1.1 (UNECE, 2015).
Throughout the process of managing risk, communication and consultation with
stakeholders remain essential, as are the constant monitoring and reviewing of the
risks and controls that are in place to ensure that no further risk treatment is required.
These two activities inform each of the steps of the risk management process.
After the context is set, and risks have been identified, the next step of the pro-
cess is the analysis and evaluation of risks, so that the organisation can decide how
to prioritise previously identified risks so that the most important are addressed first,
which is accomplished by comparing them all with one another.
Two elements of the concept of risk can be quantified as estimates: likelihood
and consequences. Likelihood can be quantified in terms of probability, and conse-
quences for business are often expressed as monetary or time losses, whereas for a
regulator, the consequences could be economic loss, ecological damage, or deterio-
ration of public health. Afterwards, the expected value of a risk can be calculated by
multiplying probability and consequences, which permits to rank all the risk
(UNECE, 2015).
In case risks cannot be quantitatively assessed, building a consequence/probabil-
ity matrix is the most simple and commonly used tool for prioritising risks. To apply
this method, an organisation develops customised scales for potential consequences
and probabilities of events and a matrix that combines the two. Probability may be
graded as “very low”, “low”, “medium”, and “high or very high”. Similarly, the
whole range of consequences can be graded as having “very low”, “low”, “medium”,
“high”, and “very high” impact.
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 17

Fig. 1.1 IEC/ISO 31010 on “risk management” (UNECE, 2015)

Once the risks have been ranked by both probability and consequences, the
organisation needs to rank every combination of probability and consequences
(such as “high probability and high impact” – a critical risk), which will further help
organisations and policy-makers decide if “risk treatment” is needed in order to
satisfy the organisation’s own risk criteria (UNECE, 2015) (Table 1.1).
In all organisations, no matter whether they are a business, a policy or regulatory
body, or an NGO, risk treatment always involves four options: risk avoidance, risk
reduction or mitigation, risk transfer or sharing, and risk retention.
All regulatory systems are established to ensure safety for the population and the
natural environment in different scenarios, ranging from “business as usual”, to the
progressive deterioration of the contextual location conditions, to more extreme cli-
matic conditions, such as drought, and to the sudden disruption such as those caused
by earthquakes or tropical cyclones.
Nonetheless, because safety has a cost, weighing costs against safety underlie all
regulatory and management systems. A well-functioning regulatory system is based
on an effective risk oversight and management process that allow regulatory and
policy authorities to monitor the achievement of policy goals under their respective
responsibility and to design lines of accountability accordingly.
To be effective, the risk oversight system of a regulatory authority should include
the same elements that have been described above: the determination of the regula-
tory objectives, the identification of risks in attaining these objectives, the ranking
18 T. Khan and S. Eslamian

Table 1.1 Ranking risks (UNECE, 2015)

of the risks, a structured mechanism for choice among risk treatment strategies, and
a dedicated crisis management function.
In the context of DRR, strategies to mitigate risk include both regulations and
alternatives to regulatory action, such as for example opening public procurement to
companies who implement desired safety standards. Strategies to avoid a risk typi-
cally involve banning a dangerous activity: for example, banning construction in a
specific flood prone area. An example of a risk sharing strategy is making it compul-
sory for organisations or individuals to subscribe insurance for a specific risk
(UNECE, 2015).
Figure 1.2 illustrates the decisions that the management of a company or a regu-
latory authority can take in order to manage the risk of floods, presenting some of
the strategies that can be developed under each of the four options.

5 Summary and Conclusions

In this chapter, the main forms of natural disasters which occur globally have been
discussed together with their impacts. Most of these disasters appear to be exacer-
bated by global climate change conditions, although more research is required in
establishing these relationships between global climate change and the frequency
and intensity of natural disasters. Fatalities from natural disasters have reduced at a
global level due to the implementation of multiple risk mitigation strategies. Such
strategies include the use of analytical technologies, sophisticated warning systems,
and prompt disaster response.
As discussed earlier, economically developed countries such as the United States
have advanced and sophisticated processes and systems in place which are continu-
ously updated and improved for evaluation and planning purposes. Economically
developing countries which are more vulnerable to natural disasters do not under-
take evaluation activities.
When it comes to disaster response, other factors can influence the level of disas-
ter response efficiency. The main factor is the political influence on resource alloca-
tion. Various reasons, including priority considerations, impact resource allocation
during the crisis response and during postdisaster recovery and rebuilding stages.
1 Global Standards for Disaster Risk Reduction 19

Fig. 1.2 Alternative risk management strategies (UNECE, 2015)

Disaster risk reduction needs to be considered from three perspectives: interna-

tional policies, response, and involvement of multiple country affiliations (such as
international NGOs and rescue teams), from a macro perspective, for example, the
consideration of impacts on businesses and communities, as well as at an individual
level (e.g. resilience of families and individuals). Strategies can be implemented at
all three (individual, community/business, and national) levels to mitigate risks such
as loss of life, property damage, and economic losses.
Community resilience is a key consideration that has taken numerous forms of
multicollaborations to tackle global climate-related risks. Global Standards for
Disaster Risk Reduction need to be implemented as collaborative efforts with the
involvement of critical stakeholders including governments, business, civil society,
communities, data scientists, and environmental scientists who can assess impacts
based on critical risk factors. Governments need to be held accountable for under-
taking efficient measures for disaster planning and recovery to minimise disaster
risks, in all regions of the world, regardless of their economic status. United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction continues to serve and should be used
as a vehicle to promote efficient disaster recovery, globally. Governments also need
to undertake measures to mitigate risks associated with disasters, through effective
resource allocation, greater transparency, and use of technology for measurement,
recording, monitoring, data analytics, and communications purposes.

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