IPCC_Managing Risks of Extreme Events.pdf - Climate Access

Chapter 5Managing the Risks from Climate Extremes at the Local LevelBox 5-6 | Race, Class, Age, and Gender: Hurricane Katrina Recovery and ReconstructionThe intersection of race, class, age, and gender influenced differential decisionmaking; the uneven distribution of vulnerability andexposure; and variable access to post-event aid, recovery, and reconstruction in New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina(Elliott and Pais, 2006; Hartman and Squires, 2006; Tierney, 2006). Evacuation can protect people from injury and death, but there areinequalities in who can evacuate and when, with the elderly, poor, and minority residents least able to leave without assistance (Cutterand Smith, 2009). Extended evacuations (or temporary displacements lasting weeks to months) produce negative effects. Prolongedperiods of evacuation can result in a number of physical and mental health problems (Curtis et al., 2007; Mills et al., 2007). Furthermore,separation from family and community members and not knowing when a return home will be possible also adds to stress among evacuees(Curtis et al., 2007). DeSalvo et al. (2007) found that long periods of displacement were among the key causes of post-traumatic stressdisorder in a study of New Orleans workers. These temporary displacements can also lead to permanent outmigration by specific socialgroups as shown by the depopulation of New Orleans five years after Hurricane Katrina (Myers et al., 2008). In terms of longer-termrecovery, New Orleans is progressing, however large losses in population, housing, and employment suggest a pattern of only partialrecovery for the city with significant differences in the location and the timing at the neighborhood or community level (Finch et al., 2010).how natural resource-dependent people cope with climate change inthe context of wider livelihood influences is critical to formulating validadaptation frameworks.Local people’s livelihoods and their access to and control of resourcescan be affected by events largely beyond their control such as climaticextremes (e.g., floods, droughts), conflict, or agricultural problems suchas pests and disease and economic shocks that can largely impact theirlivelihoods (Chambers and Conway, 1992; Jones et al., 2010). For poorcommunities living on fragile and degraded lands such as steep hillsides,dry lands, and floodplains, climate extremes present additional threatsto their livelihoods that could be lost completely if exposed to repeateddisastrous events within short intervals leaving insufficient time forrecovery. Actions aiming at improving local adaptive capacity focusmore on addressing the deteriorating environmental conditions. Acentral element in their adaptation strategies involves ecosystemmanagement and restoration activities such as watershed rehabilitation,agroecology, and forest landscape restoration (Ellis, 2000; Ellis andAllison, 2004; Osman-Elasha, 2006b). As some suggest (Spanger-Siegfriedet al., 2005) these types of interventions often protect and enhancenatural resources at the local scale and address immediate developmentpriorities, but can also improve local capacities to adapt to futureclimate change. The buffering capacities of local people’s livelihoodsand their institutions are critical for their adaptation to extreme climatestress. They often rest on the ability of communities to generatepotentials for self-organization and for social learning and innovations(Adger et al., 2006).A number of studies indicated that sustainable strategies for disasterreduction help improve livelihoods (UNISDR, 2004), while social capitaland community networks support adaptation and disaster risk reductionby diminishing the need for emergency relief in times of droughtand/or crop failure (Devereux and Coll-Black, 2007; see Section 5.2.1).A research study in South Asia suggests that adaptive capacity andlivelihood resilience depend on social capital at the household level (i.e.,education and other factors that enable individuals to function within awider economy), the presence or absence of local enabling institutions(local cooperatives, banks, self-help groups), and the larger physical andsocial infrastructure that enables goods, information, services, and peopleto flow. Interventions to catalyze effective adaptation are important atall these multiple levels (Moench and Dixit, 2004). Diversification withinand beyond agriculture is a widely recognized strategy for reducing riskand increasing well-being in many developing countries (Ellis, 2000;Ellis and Allison, 2004).Entitlements are assets of the individuals and household. Assets arebroadly defined and include not only physical assets such as land, butalso human capital such as education and training. At the local scaleassets include institutional assets such as technical assistance or credit;social capital such as mutual assistance networks; public assets such asbasic infrastructure like water and sanitation; and environmental assetssuch as access to resources and ownership of them (Leach et al., 1999).The link between disaster risk, access to resources, and adaptation hasbeen widely documented in the literature (Sen, 1981; Adger, 2000;Brooks, 2003). Extreme climate events generally lead to entitlementdecline in terms of the rights and opportunities that local people haveto access and command the livelihood resources that enable them todeal with and adapt to climate stress.Assessment of livelihoods provides the explanation as to the differencesin responses based on the understanding of endowments, entitlements,and capabilities, within the organizational structure and power relationsof individuals, households, communities, and other local entities (Scoones,1998). Access to assets and entitlements is an important element inimproving the ability of localities to lessen their vulnerability and tocope with and respond to disasters and environmental change. In someinstances, this may not be true. For example, if a disaster affects ahousehold asset, but the household is still paying off its debt regardingthe initial cost of the asset and assuming that the asset is not protectedor insured against hazards, the asset loss coupled with the need to pay offthe loan renders the household more vulnerable, not less (Twigg, 2001).Entitlement protection thus requires adaptive types of institutions and315