Abstract
Development and disaster risk are deeply linked. Disasters reverse development gains; development initiatives influence the risk, vulnerability, and exposure of people, assets, and environments to disasters. Hence, knowledge of key dimensions of the potential trade-offs between development and disaster risk reduction (DRR) may inform decision-making processes, goals, and initiatives in ways that have potential to address unsustainable development practices that are commonplace in countries of all economic levels. This paper presents, explores, and tests a conceptual framework for analysing the trade-offs that underpin this relationship as evidenced through policy goals, initiatives, and decision-making processes. We categorise key dimensions of relevant trade-offs into five specific dimensions: (i) The aggregation of development and DRR gains and losses, (ii) risk prioritisation when seeking to reduce multiple risks, (iii) the equity of decision-making processes and outcomes, (iv) the balancing of near- and long-term goals, and (v) the distribution of power and participation. By framing key questions related to each trade-off dimension, we test the framework in the context of a major disaster recovery process in Tacloban, the Philippines, following Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in November 2013. We consider how decision-making trade-offs can be made more visible and useful in the pursuit of transformative change in development and DRR.
Highlights
Development and disaster risk are deeply linked
We present a new conceptual typology of key dimensions of the trade-offs between development and disaster risk reduction (DRR) goals, initiatives, and decision-making processes; we test the validity of the typology in the context of a major disaster recovery process in Tacloban, the Philippines, following Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) that struck in November 2013
The trade-off typology framework presented in this paper is a first attempt to organize and examine the various trade-offs that exist between development and DRR
Summary
Development and disaster risk are deeply linked. Disasters destroy assets, entrench poverty, and reverse development gains, while development initiatives influence disaster risk, vulnerability, and the exposure of people, assets, and environments. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Sendai Framework for DRR)—the global policy framework for reducing disaster losses and risks—identifies the same (among many) development-oriented factors as root causes of disaster risk that must be tackled to prevent the creation of new risks [2]. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy and practice have largely focused on managing disaster events and associated losses through coping and response action (i.e., ex post). While we have seen progress in disaster prevention and DRR mainstreaming in recent years, there is still insufficient knowledge of the underlying drivers of risk. Greater knowledge of these risk drivers is imperative for proactive DRR policy [3]
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