APN Newsletter - Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research

Enhancing Adaptation to Climate Change by
Integrating Climate Risk into Long-Term Development
Plans and Disaster Management
Reference No.: ARCP2010-09NSY-Patankar
Project Leader: Dr. Archana M Patankar, K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research
http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1572
Extreme weather events
affect vulnerable urban
areas adversely; with substantial
damages, disruption of normal
economic and social activities
and loss of human life, and
have the potential to alter the
medium- to long-term development
trajectory of these areas.
Thus, disaster management is an
important context for integrating
adaptation into decision-making
in urban areas. With this in view,
the APN-funded research project
titled “Enhancing adaptation to
climate change by integrating
climate risk into long-term development
plans and disaster management”
was undertaken in the
Asian cities of Mumbai (India),
Bangkok (Thailand) and Manila
(Philippines). This project primarily
aimed at identifying and measuring
the short- to medium-term
impacts of, and responses to,
extreme weather events and their
policy implications for long-term
adaptation capacity and development
planning of the cities.
The selected cities are located
in densely populated low-lying
coastal areas described by the
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report as
“key societal hotspots of coastal
vulnerability”. With millions of
people residing in these cities, the
risk to life and property remains
high as the cities are vulnerable to
extreme weather events that lead
to flash floods. Many instances
of severe flooding due to highintensity
precipitation have been
recorded in these cities in recent
years, including the unprecedented
floods in Bangkok in 2011.
This research project analysed the
near- to medium-term post-disaster
recovery scenarios in the aftermath
of extreme floods faced by
the three cities, namely, the July
2005 floods in Mumbai, floods in
four eastern districts of Bangkok
in 2006 and extreme floods
brought on by tropical storms of
Ondoy and Pepeng in Manila in
2009.
The project developed three case
studies for the selected cities.
Each of the studies measured the
physical, economic and social
impacts of extreme floods, identified
the public and private
responses in the short- to
medium-term and explored their
policy implications for long-term
adaptation capacity, city resilience,
as well as investment and
development plans. Each study is
based on the analysis of primary
and secondary data pertaining to
the selected events of flooding
and their resultant physical,
economic and social impacts. The
impacts considered include loss of
life, injuries, damage to property
and infrastructure; damage to
economic stocks like physical
capital and inventory; indirect
impacts on flow variables like
income; investment and employment;
and disruption of essential
services. After measuring these
impacts, the analysis focused on
the immediate- to medium-term
post-recovery scenario, wherein,
we examined the responses of
the civic administration as well as
citizens themselves to cope with
future floods. The findings of the
project were further discussed
in the stakeholder workshop to
explore how they can lead to
better understanding of future
adaptation needs that would
lead to long term reduction in
ARCP-Funded Projects •
27
ARCP-Funded Projects