78607 Resilient Coastal Cities The Economic, Social and Environmental Dimensions of Risk June 2013 1 Authors: This material has been prepared by Javier Sanchez-Reaza, Senior Urban Specialist (LCSDU), Sustainable Development Department, The World Bank, and André Carletto, Consultant (LCSDU), Distaster Risk Management, Sustainable Development Department, The World Bank. The Caribbean Knowledge Series is an occasional series that presents World Bank knowledge in an accessible format. It is meant to assist knowledge sharing across the region and trigger policy dialogue on topics relevant for the Caribbean This note was prepared to support the participatory policy dialogue in the context of the Caribbean Growth Forum (CGF). The CGF is an initiative facilitated by the Compete Caribbean Program, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency, the United Kingdom’s Agency for International Development, CARICOM Secretariat, the University of the West Indies, the European Union and Caribbean Export. It aims to facilitate a multi-stakeholder dialogue to identify practical solutions for the growth challenge in the Caribbean. To learn more about the CGF methodology and progress in each Caribbean country visit: http://caribgrowth.competecaribbean.org/ Disclaimer: The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Visit the entire “Caribbean Knowledge Series� collection at: http://worldbank.org/lac Design & Concept by Room Grupo Creativo | www.room.com.do Cover Photo: iStockPhotos 2 3 Resilient Coastal Cities The Economic, Social and Environmental Dimensions of Risk Coastal cities are at risk II- Increasing shoreline retreat and risk of flooding of coastal cities due to degraded coastal Urbanization and exposure to risk ecosystems by human activity, as has been documented in the cases of Thailand (Durongdej, Natural geographic advantages have historically 2001; Saito, 2001), India (Mohanti, 2000), Vietnam attracted human settlements to rivers and coasts. (Thanh et al., 2004) and the United States (Scavia Almost one-quarter of the world’s population lives et al., 2002). within 100 km distance of the coast and less than 100 m above sea level (Small and Nicholls, 2003). Factoring in climate change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) argues that 60% of the world’s largest Coastal cities need to quickly prepare for climate metro-regions (with over 5 million people) are change consequences, which further increase located within 100 km of the coast, including 12 of their vulnerability to extreme weather events. the world’s 16 cities with populations greater than Over the next 100 years, sea levels will rise up to 10 million. The attraction to the coast is so strong 59 centimeters (IPCC, 2007). Peak sea levels, which that people are willing to give up living space to be are most relevant for coastal planning –as they near the coast. As a result, population densities in characterize storm surges— may be rising even coastal regions are about three times higher than faster. These estimates are relevant because sea the global average. level rise will result in significant land erosion. For example, a low-IPCC scenario such as a 1 ft (30 cms) However, these cities are particularly at risk of sea level rise in the US would erode up to 30 meters natural hazards. It has been argued that around 360 of shoreline in New Jersey and up to 120 meters million urban residents live in coastal areas that are in California (OECD, 2008; Ruth and Rong, 2006). particularly exposed as they lie in grounds lower With such sea level increases and land erosion, than 10 meters above the sea level (Satterthwaite flood protection systems could be under strain. The and Moser 2008). This number is growing rapidly. case of New Orleans is an important early warning Lall and Deichmann (2009) have estimated that of what would be needed to protect population given demographic dynamics, population exposed and assets at risk in coastal areas. In Europe, 70% to cyclones will more than double by 2050 to nearly of the largest cities have areas that are particularly 700 million people.1 vulnerable to rising sea levels. Moreover, most of these cities can be found in areas that are less than Such an increase in exposure to risk can partly be 10 meters above the sea level. Based on average explained by rapid urbanization of coastal cities annual increases in population living in vulnerable that accelerated dramatically during the 20th areas estimated by McGranahan et al (2007), China century and can arguably be associated to: alone would now have more than 93 million people living in low-elevation areas. As this number rises I- Saltwater intrusion into surface and ground according to such annual projections, it could reach waters has been exacerbated due to both the enlargement of natural coastal inlets and the dredging of waterways for navigation, port facilities, and pipelines 1 Lall and Deichmann (2009) also warn of an increase in population at risk of an earthquake: from 370 million in 2000 to 870 in 2050. 4 280 million by 2050. That is larger than the entire There are definite costs for the environment when US population in 2000 or around seven times the extreme weather events take place, but economic entire Caribbean region. The number of natural and social consequences of such events are disasters that have been reported worldwide has particularly important in cities. Many coastal cities increased dramatically from only a few dozen at the in the developing world are at risk due to climate beginning of the 20th century to hundreds of them, change, extreme weather events and the lack of particularly after the 1980s (Figure 1). Coastal cities proper planning. In particular, planning can help are now increasing vulnerable to sea-level rise increase resiliency to such events by adapting their and have already experienced more severe and responses on the basis of experience in disaster frequent wind storms. risk reduction. Figure 1: Natural Disasters Reported 1900-2011 550 500 450 400 Number of disasters reported 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Year EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database -www.emdat.be- Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels - Belgium 5 Economic impact of disasters cause, floods can short-circuit transformers and disrupt energy transmission and distribution, Throughout the last century, mankind has paralyze transportation, compromise clean water been effective at developing the tools to limit supplies and treatment facilities, and accelerate the number of casualties as a result of natural spread of water-borne pathogens (OECD, 2008; disasters, but has been less successful at curving Ruth and Rong, 2006; IPCC, 2001). their economic impact. In addition to human losses and asset damages that result in loss of output, Socio-economic models of future flood damage natural hazards also have an indirect economic in cities (e.g. Boston or London) independently impact by disturbing the productive system: predict vast increases in spending in response assets, infrastructure and linkages that firms need to damages resulting from climate change in the to 350 billion compared to the few dozen billion US absence of adaptive infrastructure changes (OECD, dollars in the 1970s. In fact, every few years since 2008; Kirshen et al., 2005; Hall et al., 2002; and the Kobe earthquake in 1995, a single catastrophic Choi and Fisher, 2003). Adaptation and mitigation event will take place that will multiply the amount measures are already been applied in many parts of economic damages. Yet, all these estimations of the world. Some of these measures, such as fall short of the actual impact due to the indirect dykes, can be argued to be cost-effective; but they consequences of these events. could also bring about unintended consequences. Coastal infrastructure protecting against storm From an economic standpoint floods are one of surges, such as sea walls, could damage local the most costly and damaging disasters, and will landscapes, ecosystems and beaches, which may pose a critical problem to policy makers as they impinge on the tourism industry. Fisheries may also increase in frequency and severity. The frequency suffer. Infrastructure to reduce coastal flooding can and severity of flooding has generally increased in damage coastal ecosystems on which, according to the last decade compared to the pre-1980 period. Hallegatte et al (2008), 90% of fish species depend In addition to being more frequent, they are more during at least one stage of their life cycle. severe. Floods with discharges exceeding 100- year levels are much more frequent (OECD, 2008; The urbanization of poverty phenomenon has Kron and Berz, 2007). Severe precipitation events resulted in concentration of large numbers of the are predicted to cause a greater incidence of flash poor in urban areas. These groups are especially flooding, particularly in urban settings (IPCC, 2007). vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather With severe levels of precipitation, there is a need events. Poor city residents tend to locate in the most to evaluate existing water treatment infrastructure vulnerable locations and housing construction along with water transport systems, and to materials are not robust. The consequences of develop systems designed to cope with excess surging seas, wind storms, and flooding are much precipitation or an influx of seawater. The City of more dramatic in these areas (OECD, 2010). Recent London Corporation, for example, has identified OECD work shows that a 50-cm sea level rise, “hot spots� vulnerable to flooding, where it plans to factoring in socioeconomic development, could install new sustainable drainage system and invest result by 2070 in a tripling of the population at in maintenance to accommodate the expected risk of coastal flooding and a tenfold increase in rise in the volume of precipitation (OECD, 2008). the amount of assets exposed. Such an increased In Sub-Saharan Africa, adapting new and existing exposure translates in almost doubling the cost infrastructure for urban wastewater treatment of assets at risk in terms of GDP: from 5% of GDP systems has been estimated to cost between 2 in 2008 to 9% of GDP in 2070. However, for Lall and 5 billion dollars per year. In Toronto, similar and Deichmann (2009) urban agglomerations by improvements were valued at around USD 9 billion their own nature –being the places where wealth annually (OECD, 2008). In addition to the obvious and skills tend to concentrate—can mitigate some structural damages and loss of life that they can of the risks: after all, higher income countries 6 tend to have lower life losses. Wealthier societies and coastal erosion. It is estimated that if current could also mean, according to Lall and Deichmann trends continue, between USD 350 and 870 million (2009), better housing quality, institutions that will be lost each year only in the Eastern Caribbean are able to enforce risk mitigation measures, and sub-region. The World Bank (2012) has estimated economies of scale can be achieved in risk control that the entire Caribbean has lost USD 9 billion measures because these can benefit a larger between 2007 and 2011, which is more than twice population. More often than not, social capital is a the size of the economy of Barbados or seven key ingredient in disaster-risk management (DRM). times that of Antigua & Barbuda. Coastal cities in As climate change will demand greater local- the region are therefore particularly exposed to government capabilities, social capital becomes meteorological hazards, climate change and in increasingly important to build more resilient cities. some cases earthquakes. Vulnerability in the Caribbean The calculation of the Probable Maximum Loss (PML) for countries in Latin American and the The Caribbean population and assets are among Caribbean with higher exposure to natural hazards the most exposed to natural disasters in the world. by Cardona (2007) presents the estimation of the For instance, over 96% of Jamaica’s population value of the largest loss from a disaster2. In the and GDP are located in risk-prone areas to at least case of Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad two hazards. According to the World Bank (2005), & Tobago (Figure 2) Cardona (2007) estimates for Jamaica is the third most exposed country to at 50 and 100 years, with an 18% and 5% probability least two hazards in the world. Similarly, Grenada of occurrence, considerable losses for these has over the last two decades lost 9% of GDP countries vis-à-vis the size of their local economy. annually to natural hazards (World Bank, 2012). The problem is particularly acute in Haiti and the Dominican Republic where losses as a proportion of population and GDP size, have been the greatest in the region. Every year, Caribbean countries experience losses as a result of natural disasters as they are particularly prone to earthquakes and meteorological-related hazards (i.e. flooding, high winds and landslides). Although less common than the latter, earthquakes represent the biggest threat in terms of population and asset losses from a single event. That is particularly the case in Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Meteorological-related events such as flooding, high winds and landslides intensify during the rainy season (June to November) through hurricanes and tropical storms. Each year, at least one major hurricane and several tropical storms sweep across the Caribbean. Such events have the potential of destroying lives, livelihoods, infrastructure and economic activity. Climate change is expected to worsen the threats for the Caribbean by making these events more acute in addition to accelerating above-mentioned challenges such as sea-level rise 2 Potential losses were calculated using a model that takes into account different hazards (which are calculated in probabilistic form according to historical data on the intensity of past phenomena) and the actual physical vulnerability of the elements exposed to such phenomena. This analytical and predictive model is not based on historical measures of losses (deaths and number of people affected), but rather on the intensity of the phenomena. 7 Figure 2: Probable Maximum Loss in 50 & 100 years US$ Million 7000 6000 5000 4000 PML 100 yr 3000 PML 50 yr Caribbean Countries 2000 1000 0 PE NI DO ES JM CO EC BO MX TT CL CR GT AR Source: Cardona, 2007 Improving resiliency What is city resilience? Because economic and human densities amplify need to take steps to develop systems to quickly risk and change the economics of disaster respond to crises and restore services after a risk reduction strategies, urban disaster risk disaster. management is different than any other type. Lall and Deichmann (2009) argue that an increasing Resilient cities require social capital and adequate number of people and assets are exposed to institutional arrangements. People need to natural hazards in dense urban areas. Economic be empowered and participate, decide and and human density can amplify risk and change plan their city together with local authorities. A the economics of disaster risk reduction strategies resilient city is run by an inclusive, competent and (Lall and Deichmann, 2009). A disaster resilient city accountable local government that is concerned therefore, attempts to minimize risks by favoring about sustainable urbanization and that commits neighborhoods with organized services and the necessary resources to develop capacities to infrastructure that adhere to sensible building manage and organize itself before, during and after codes; without informal settlements built on flood a natural hazard event (e.g. Box 1 on accountability plains or steep slopes because no other land in the Philippines). Local authorities and population is available. To be more resilient, cities need to in a resilient city understand their risks and develop take steps to anticipate and mitigate the impact a shared, local information base on disaster losses, of disasters, incorporating monitoring and early- hazards and risks, including who is exposed and warning technologies to protect infrastructure, who is vulnerable. Such a form of governance must community assets and individuals, including also act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to their homes and possessions, cultural heritage, address climate change at its roots (ISDR, 2012). environmental and economic capital. Cities also 8 Box 1. Accountability: The Case of the Philippines The Mindanao Summit on Disaster Risk Reduction and Geo-Hazard Awareness in Cagayan do Oro City was called by two Philippines Government senators after a devastating tropical storm hit Mindanao and nearby areas. It brought together a range of government and civil society stakeholders to discuss how to reduce disaster risks. They identified specific legislative, communication, planning, and response priorities for disaster risk reduction, among them creation of a disaster response and an accountability rating system for local government units. Source: Jha, Miner and Stanton-Geddes (2013) What tools for resiliency? Building resilience in a city requires an integrated Figure 3: Dimensions of Resilience approach based on the four dimensions of resiliency: environmental, economic, social and institutional (Figure 2). To be resilient, a city must not only face environmental hazards, but protect and integrate key ecosystem services, as well as develop economic, social and institutional resiliency. As part of the adaptation and mitigation efforts to address environmental challenges, the city should work on increasing the adaptive capacity of buildings and critical infrastructure, including water and power supply systems, and to develop an emergency preparedness capacity. The system should have in place a plan for economic recovery after a disaster, while also diversifying the economy when possible, to lower the risk of economic crisis. Social inclusion programs could be coupled with land-use planning to address vulnerable groups’ exposure to risks. To allow for this, the system would need an institutional set up that allows for participation, as well as an urban risk assessment and a robust decision making process that is based on cost-benefit assessments valuing social and environmental aspects and takes into account risk and longer time horizon. Plans would be developed on the basis of social participation and empowerment so that social capital can become a source of resiliency. To be effective, urban resiliency strategies should incorporate partnerships with other levels of government as well as with other cities (e.g. see the case of Mozambique in Box 2). 9 Box 2. Participatory planning in Mozambique In Quelimane City, Mozambique, local informal communities partnered with the City Council and several international organizations (Cities Alliance, World Bank, DANIDA, UNICEF, WaterAid) to work on upgrading communities that are particularly affected by cyclical floods because of a high water table and heavy rains. City and communities worked together to formulate a participatory urban development strategy for informal neighborhoods, where about 80 percent of the population live, taking into account water and sanitation conditions. The participatory planning process led to joint action to improve conditions in densely populated peri- urban slum belts. The City Council made an in-kind contribution of US$100,000 by providing office space, equipment, a meeting room, technical/administrative staff, and vehicles. The community provided an in-kind contribution of US$150,000 by providing subsidized labor, conducting awareness campaigns, forming operational management teams, and reducing plot sizes or, in extreme cases, moving to another area. UN-HABITAT, the World Bank, DANIDA, UNICEF, and WaterAid together contributed US$440,000 in cash and in kind. Other in-kind contributions totaling US$30,000 were secured from a state water supply institution and a private firm that made its trucks available on weekends in exchange only for payment for the fuel and the driver. The results achieved through these combined efforts included a City Council that was better equipped to work with informal settlements; construction of two community centers; cleaning of 10 km of drainage channels with 1 km paved; widening and improvement of 20 km of unpaved roads; installation of 10 new water points in the most densely populated areas; and construction of 20 rainwater collection systems and four public lavatories—all mainly through planned labor-intensive activities. The endeavor also produced greater government and community awareness of water, sanitation, and drainage maintenance issues and improved planning for sanitation and expansion of the water supply network to densely populated peri- urban slum belts. Source: Jha, Miner and Stanton-Geddes (2013) Mitigation, adaptation and environmental measures Mitigation and adaptation policies need to change and can, at the same time, be associated to be employed complementary to each other adaptation needs. to address risk and climate change. There is a significant distinction between climate change Public investment in flood protection is one of mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation efforts aim to the most important adaptation tools for coastal prevent further climate change. Adaptation involves cities, but they should be carefully planned so as readjusting life to the reality that a certain amount not to impact the natural environment. Some of of climate change will inevitably occur. An effective the most well-known examples include Venice (Box climate change policy for cities however needs to 3), New Orleans, Helsinki or Rotterdam. However, include both, and they need to be approached in these investments have triggered a debate as they an integrated manner. Adaptation is necessary to can lead to the destruction of ecological resources address impacts resulting from global warming in order to protect the built environment. Instead, that would occur even in the most optimistic parks and natural spaces can be used. However, IPCC-assessed carbon stabilization scenarios. In more often than not, the need for horizontal co- the long run, in the absence of mitigation actions, ordination – in addition to the vertical co-ordination natural and human systems’ capacities to adapt required with regional and national governments would be exceeded. Early mitigation actions are in charge of environmental management – hinders indispensable to reduce the magnitude of climate the use of ecological preservation as a tool for 10 adaptation since these parks and natural spaces increasingly taking into account potential impacts frequently fall outside city boundaries,. Natural and vulnerability assessments. The Finnish cities resource policies, and in particular wetland of Espoo and Helsinki have mandated that new protection and urban forestry programs can planned areas be 2.6 metres above sea level, and also play an important role in adaptation by that the lowest floor level of new buildings be 3 providing natural buffers for storms, in addition metres above sea level (Voutilainen, 2007). to mitigation benefits by removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Local government DRM plans are Box 3. Adaptation: The Case of Venice The approved plan to protect Venice, MOSE (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, or Experimental Electromechanical Module), involves the construction of 79 gates at three lagoon inlets. When waters rise 1.1 meters (43 inches) above “normal�, air will be injected into the hollow gates, causing them to rise, blocking seawater from entering the lagoon and thereby preventing the flooding of Venice. At the Malamocco inlet, the walls of the MOSE project are being built just like the original walls in Venice. But workers are driving 125-foot-long steel and concrete pilings into the lagoon bed, instead of wooden pilings. When the giant doors are at rest, they will be lying invisible to Venetians and tourists on the bottom of the inlet channel. Each gate will be up to 92 feet long, 65 feet wide, and will weigh 300 tons. Depending on the type of tides, there are different ways to manage the gates. They are flexible: they can close one inlet and not the other, depending on sea tides, wind and rain. There is no need to close the whole lagoon allowing a continuous exchange of water from the open sea to the lagoon. Source: Prasad et al (2009) Another important set of mitigation and under roads and parks to temporarily hold runoff adaptation actions that are becoming increasingly water to avoid flash floods. Jakarta has recently relevant are those aimed at addressing increasing initiated a programme to construct a major storm- levels of precipitation as a result of climate change. water drainage canal system known as the East London and Venice are redesigning their urban Canal to provide adequate drainage to the eastern storm-water drainage system giving consideration half of the city. Physical protection from typhoons to the change in frequency and intensification of and rising sea water levels is provided by Vietnam’s rainfall. Tokyo is designing urban holding ponds extensive system of dikes (Box 4). Box 4. Nam Dinh Province, Vietnam. A range of disaster risk management measures have been identified for Nam Dinh according to the draft Second National Strategy and Action Plan including: • Protect existing upstream forest watersheds to reduce downstream floods; • Build large- and medium-scale reservoirs upstream on big rivers to retain flood water; • Strengthen dike systems to be able to resist flood levels; • Build flood diversion structures; • Clear floodways to rapidly release flood water; • Strengthen dike management and protection works to ensure the safety of the dike systems; • Construct emergency spillways along the dikes for selective filling of flood retention basin; and • Designate and use flood basins to decrease the quantity of flood water flow. Source: Prasad et al (2009) 11 Resilient infrastructure and service provision Land-use planning. As cities develop, it is essential to evaluate Land-use planning tools can contribute to disaster infrastructure and service improvements through risk management in coastal cities. On the one a climate change lens so as to promote long-term hand, land-use planning can be used to favor mitigation, adaptation, and poverty alleviation. more compact urban developments that reduce Cities that focus on provision of basic urban services intra-urban trips and commuting times. In turn, to the poor tend to do so in an integrated manner. such compact arrangements result in lower GHG Reducing infrastructure vulnerability to climate emissions, less traffic and more productive urban change impacts poses a key challenge for local centers. High-density development can also be the and regional transportation authorities. Preventing result of land-use planning efforts which have been disruptions due to flooding is chief among these associated to a decrease in GHG emissions (OECD, concerns. It is vital for cities to clearly assess and 2010). On the other hand, land-use planning can plan for sea-level rise, storm-surge and other be a powerful DRM tool. Coastal cities threatened storm impacts that exceed existing 100-200-year by sea-level rise or sea water intrusion as a result plans (OECD, 2010). Below-ground transportations of a tsunami or storm surge are turning to land-use systems are particularly susceptible to water planning through regulation or market incentives damage. Coastal cities’ public transportation Singapore, for example, has decided to increase systems are at risk, particularly regarding flooding the ground level in all reclamation programs to due to storms and rising sea levels. Extreme heat factor the likely increase in sea-level due to climate can also damage roadways, bridges, and rail lines change (Box 5). Similarly, Chile has set a line along that were designed for lower temperatures. But the coast, prohibiting development under a certain resilient infrastructure alone is not sufficient to threshold and requiring minimum heights in lower provide uninterrupted service delivery. Coastal floors for all other risk-prone areas in coastal cities. cities need to also work on improving resiliency in The City of London has also factored sea-level rise services. Building resiliency requires: I- advanced in the redesign of Thames Barrier flood control drainage systems that can alleviate flooding during system. Shanghai has a flood control project: a intense storms; II- healthcare services; III- warning two-phase project that is designed to regulate systems; IV- transport infrastructure allowing water flow in the region to reduce flooding and citizens to evacuate in response to risk. provide a platform for water quality monitoring. In the US, rolling easements have been introduced Resilient local economies. to discourage development of coastal areas by granting a public right-of-way to a narrow portion As cities compete globally to attract private sector of coastal property, which migrates inland as the investments, skills and talents, slum growth, shore erodes. This prevents coastal land owners insecurity, and vulnerability to natural hazards can from erecting structures to block sea level rise become location decision factors. Urban policies and transfers the impact of sea level rise to the aimed at reducing inequality, reducing poverty and private land owner (Titus and Narayanan, 1996). managing risks can be growth-enhancing policies The most immediate impact of the policy would be as well. In particular, an important adaptation to discourage new coastal development in areas strategy for local governments is to provide new vulnerable to coastal flooding. shelter options for the poor to avoid settlements on marginal land that not only fosters slum growth but also often exposes already vulnerable population groups to live in risk-prone areas. Providing better settlement options for vulnerable population serves the dual purpose of immediately providing them with a safer living environment and contributing to more resilient neighborhoods and cities in the longer term. 12 Box 5. Singapore’s Taps Strategy Singapore’s Four National Taps Strategy aims at ensuring the country has enough water to meet its future needs. The first tap is the supply of water from local catchments. This consists of an integrated system of 14 reservoirs and an extensive drainage system to channel storm water into the reservoirs. The Marina Barrage, when completed in late 2007, will turn Marina Basin into Singapore’s 15th reservoir with a catchment area of about 10,000 hectares (or one-sixth of Singapore’s land area). Dams will also be constructed across Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon and when completed in 2009, will create a new catchment area of over 5,000 hectares. Collectively, these projects will increase water catchment areas from 50 percent to 67 percent of Singapore’s land area by 2009, fulfilling one of SGP 2012 targets on clean water. The second tap, imported water from Johor, supplements Singapore’s needs. The third tap, NEWater or high- grade reclaimed water also supplements Singapore’s needs. Thanks to advanced membrane technologies, treated effluent from the water reclamation plants is processed to produce high-grade reclaimed water of drinkable quality. NEWater is supplied from three plants with a combined capacity of 21 million gallons per day. A fourth plant at Ulu Pandan doubles the current supply. Recent technological advances have made Singapore’s fourth tap, desalinated water, an affordable source. The first desalination plant at Tuas started operations in September 2005 and can supply a maximum of 30 million gallons per day of drinking water. Source: Prasad et al (2009) Progress and Challenges for a more Resilient Caribbean In recent years, countries in the Eastern Caribbean But while these recent improvements in disaster sub-region have made substantial progress in risk management are encouraging, Eastern strengthening their disaster risk management Caribbean nations still lack the required capacity capacity, but more can be done particularly in the to assess the full financial implications of disaster area of risk reduction. A Mid-Term Review study impacts. A better understanding of the economic on the Caribbean Implementation of the Hyogo and financial impacts of disasters would provide Framework for Action (HFA) was conducted in critical information without which it, sound ex- 2011 by UNDP, and concluded that the region has ante risk reduction cost-benefit analysis or risk made good progress in disaster risk management. reduction strategies cannot be developed (World Achievements have been made in the following Bank, 2012). One of the primary challenges to areas: hazard mapping and its application to ensuring an effective recovery and identifying development planning; monitoring and warning future risk mitigation activities is capturing systems and preparedness; development of sectoral-specific damages and losses following a institutional and legal frameworks; community- disaster event. In the Eastern Caribbean context, based disaster management programs; public the National Disaster Organizations (NDO) or information and dissemination; and recognition similar institutions are mandated with coordinating of the importance of forecasting climate change all post-disaster damage and loss assessments. effects to disaster risk management. Caribbean NDOs are also mandated with the legal, countries have also joined the world’s first pooled institutional and operational aspects of disaster insurance facility Caribbean Catastrophic Risk prevention, mitigation and the coordination of Insurance Facility (CCRIF), successfully transferring emergency response, recovery and rehabilitation their catastrophic risk. following a disaster event. However, there remains 13 a strong dependency on external partners to define and implement comprehensive post disaster assessments such as the Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA)3 or Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA). Further, in most cases, relevant agencies do not understand what is expected from them in order to effectively conduct the DaLA and/or PDNA and how information generated from these assessments relates to sector-specific assessments and recovery strategies (World Bank, 2012). Conclusions Many coastal cities around the globe are stepping Strong regional leadership and consistency up to the challenge of adapting their infrastructure of approach, national leadership, policy-level to the threat posed by growing natural hazards, as support, cross-disciplinary linkages, analysis and well as putting in place mitigation policies to reduce quantification of impacts, committed personnel GHG emissions. However, a smaller number of and availability of technical skills will be needed to governments have adopted an integral approach further develop disaster resilience in the region. to disaster risk management. Such an integral approach incorporates not only environmental aspects, but also economic and social aspects of resiliency. Successful policies that rest on an integral approach however, require solid institutional arrangements that promote citizen participation, empower neighborhoods to propose changes to policy making and foster the accumulation of social capital. At the end, the risk that these policies aim at reducing stem from individual and community- level actions and behaviors and probably can only be resolved there: at the community level. 3 The Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) Methodology was initially developed by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) in 1972. It has since been improved through close cooperation of WHO, PAHO, World Bank, UNDP, Inter-American Development Bank, UNESCO and ILO. 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