IPCC_Managing Risks of Extreme Events.pdf - Climate Access

Chapter 5Managing the Risks from Climate Extremes at the Local LevelExecutive SummaryDisasters are most acutely experienced at the local level (high agreement, robust evidence). The reality ofdisasters in terms of loss of life and property occurs in local places and to local people. These localized impacts canthen cascade to have national and international consequences. In this chapter, local refers to a range of places, socialgroupings, experience, management, institutions, conditions, and sets of knowledge that exist at a sub-national scale.[5.1]Developing strategies for disaster risk management in the context of climate change requires a range ofapproaches, informed by and customized to specific local circumstances (high agreement, robust evidence).These differences and the context (national to global, urban to rural) in which they are situated shape localvulnerability and local impacts. [5.1]The impacts of climate extremes and weather events may threaten human security at the local level (highagreement, medium evidence). Vulnerability at the local level is attributed to social, political, and economicconditions and drivers including localized environmental degradation and climate change. Addressing disaster risk andclimate extremes at the local level requires attention to much wider issues relating to sustainable development. [5.1]While structural measures provide some protection from disasters, they may also create a false sense ofsafety (high agreement, robust evidence). Such measures result in increased property development, heightenedpopulation density, and more disaster exposure. Current regulations and design levels for structural measures may beinadequate under conditions of climate change. [5.3.2]Sustainable land management is an effective disaster risk reduction tool (high agreement, robust evidence).Land management includes land use, planning, zoning, conservation zones, buffer zones, or land acquisition. Often itis difficult for local jurisdictions to implement such measures as a result of political and economic pressures fordevelopment. However, such measures are often less disruptive to the environment and more sustainable at the locallevel than structural measures. [5.3.3]Humanitarian relief is often required when disaster risk reduction measures are absent or inadequate(high agreement, robust evidence). Such assistance is more effective when it takes local social, cultural, andeconomic conditions into account, acknowledges local agency in disaster response, and recognizes that the initialassistance during and immediately after disasters is nearly always locally generated. [5.2.1]Post-disaster recovery and reconstruction provide an opportunity for reducing weather- and climate-relateddisaster risk and for improving adaptive capacity (high agreement, robust evidence). An emphasis on rapidlyrebuilding houses, reconstructing infrastructure, and rehabilitating livelihoods often leads to recovering in ways thatrecreate or even increase existing vulnerabilities, and that preclude longer-term planning and policy changes forenhancing resilience and sustainable development. Including local actors benefits the recovery process. [5.2.3]Disasters associated with climate extremes influence population mobility and relocation affecting host andorigin communities (medium agreement, medium evidence). Most people return and participate in the postdisasterrecovery in their local areas. If disasters occur more frequently and/or with greater magnitude, some localareas will become increasingly marginal as places to live or in which to maintain livelihoods. In such cases, migrationand displacement could become permanent and could introduce new pressures in areas of relocation. For locationssuch as atolls, in some cases it is possible that many residents will have to relocate. In other cases, migration is anadaptation to climate change, with remittances supporting community members who remain at home. [5.2.2]Integration of local knowledge with additional scientific and technical knowledge can improve disasterrisk reduction and climate change adaptation (high agreement, robust evidence). Local populations documenttheir experiences with the changing climate, particularly extreme weather events, in many different ways, and this type293