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Experiencing both recurrent small-scale events as well as devastating large-scale catastrophes, no other region in the world is affected by disasters as is East Asia and the Pacific. In the last decade, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila, and many other cities have been repeatedly hit by floods. In the last five years, Asia has experienced a large share of wide-scale natural catastrophes, including earthquakes in the Tohoku region in 2011, Padang in 2009, and Wenchuan in 2008; typhoons in 2009 in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Philippines, and Vietnam; a cyclone in Myanmar in 2008; and large-scale floods in 2011 in Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The year 2011 was the costliest year on record for natural disasters with cascading effects (Japan) and trans-boundary consequences (Thailand), adding up to US

Extreme weather events are among the main channels through which natural disaster shocks interact with poverty. Microlevel research regarding the effects of government support on poor rural households’ resilience to natural disasters is beneficial for identifying complementarities between disaster mitigation and poverty alleviation. In contrast to previous research, this study directly explores the impact of government support on households’ ability to resist natural disaster shocks in China in the context of multiple natural disasters. Using four waves of a rural household panel survey in six poor counties in China, this study applies PSM-DID and mediating effect models to explore the impact of government support on households’ ability to resist natural disaster shocks. Four relevant emerge. (1) Government support could significantly reduce the probability of households suffering from natural disaster shocks and improve households’ ability to resist natural disaster shocks. (2) Government support can increase households’ ability to resist natural disaster shocks by raising non-farm income. (3) Government support primarily enhances resistance to natural disasters among poor and small rural households. (4) Government support has more significant effects in reducing the probability of households suffering from droughts and floods. We argue that government provision of targeted safety net programs to mitigate the effects of systemic natural hazards is crucial for establishing risk resilience for farm households, and the conditions for policy effectiveness must be addressed.

This workbook is intended to help policy makers in developing countries plan for a safer future in urban areas in the face of natural disasters and the consequences of climate change. It is based on the experiences of three cities in Vietnam, Can Tho, Dong Hoi, and Hanoi, that worked with international and local experts under World Bank supervision to develop local resilience action plans (LRAPs) in 2009-10. An LRAP is a detailed planning document that reflects local concerns and priorities based on the experiences of the past and projections for the future. It is not a wish list of projects that may never be completed because they are too costly or lack political support. Rather, it should be a realistic document that describes and establishes priorities for specific steps that can be undertaken in the near term to adapt to both climate related and other hazards. Regardless of their size, location, political orientation, or technical capacity, other cities can learn from the experiences of these pilot cities to develop their own LRAPs. The purpose of this workbook is to adapt the initial experiences of Can Tho, Dong Hoi, and Hanoi to benefit the national government and other communities in Vietnam and beyond. Indeed, the process described in this workbook was later adopted in the cities of Iloilo, the Philippines; Ningbo, China; and Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and the concluding chapter of this workbook draws on some of the lessons learned in these cities. However, the workbook, while generalizable to other contexts, largely reflects the Vietnamese experience.

The emergence of the climate change discourse in urban planning emphasises resilience as a key concept to deal with issues such as climate mitigation and adaptation, and urban health. What we have termed in this article ‘green resilience’, the coalescence of technological solutions and resilience thinking to solve cities’ ecological issues, is constantly gaining traction in urban planning research. However, green resilience often fails to take into account the socio-political and spatial processes that pertain to the exploitation of land for urban development particularly in the global South. Based on our latest research on two urban megaprojects, in Johor-Singapore (Malaysia) and Doha (Qatar), in this article we build a critique of green resilience and urbanism by leveraging research in the fields of environmental humanities and urban planning. 城市规划中气候变化话语的出现强调复原性是应对气候风险消减和适应以及城市健康等问题的关键概念。我们在本文中所称的“绿色复原力”，即为解决城市生态问题而出现的、技术解决方案与复原力思维的融合，在城市规划研究中越来越受欢迎。然而，绿色复原力往往没有考虑到与城市发展的土地开发有关的社会政治和空间过程，特别是在全球南方。基于我们对新山 - 新加坡（马来西亚）和多哈（卡塔尔）两个城市大型项目的最新研究，在本文中，我们利用环境人文学科和城市规划领域的研究，对绿色复原力和城市化进行了批判。

PurposeThis case study examines the contribution of Indigenous knowledge (IK) and practices to climate action at Ekisalhalha kya Kororo sacred site, adjacent to Rwenzori Mountains National Park in the Kasese district of Western Uganda. This paper is intended to make a case for IK as an important component of climate change mitigation strategies especially if the knowledge is profiled and publicised. The paper presents aspects of traditional knowledge in terms of ceremonies, rituals, norms and customs that can be re-energised for climate change.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed mainly a participatory and qualitative data collection methodology. The data were collected in Kasese district largely from the local government officials, cultural leaders, civil society actors and representatives of indigenous minority communities such as the Basongora. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources, at the desk and through community interactions to collect various narratives based on IK. Primary data were collected during individual interviews, by administering a semi-structured questionnaire and holding focus group discussions with different stakeholders in Kasese, Uganda. The respondents were carefully identified and included cultural leaders, young people, local government authorities and representatives of civil society organisations responsible for implementing climate change mitigation strategies.FindingsClimate change effects are manifest in rising temperatures, flooding, desertification and other natural hazards. The Kasese district, in particular, has faced several climatic change catastrophes and there has been limited use or mainstreaming of the existing IK of the communities in the region in different climate action interventions. Amongst the key research findings was that IK can be utilised to address or mitigate climate change risks/hazards and provide valuable insights into climate adaptation strategies, including rain-water harvesting, weather forecasting and preparedness, and sustainable farming practices. In addition, it is easily accessible, especially in areas that modern science has not reached.Research limitations/implicationsFew elders with IK related to climate change mitigation and the disconnect between young people and IK bearers were limitations encountered during data collection.Originality/valueThe information in the article is an original compilation by the authors based on previous published work from the NetZero Heritage for Climate Action research project.

Earthquakes pose a growing threat to Indonesia, and the country’s limited resources for risk mitigation propagate its vulnerability. The heavy reliance on ad-hoc government relief for risk transfer is not sustainable. This study aims to provide scientific evidence for formulating disaster risk financing strategies in Indonesia, focusing on active fault areas with high population density. By analyzing people’s responses to risk financing after the November 21, 2022, earthquake in Cianjur Regency, the study examines emotional reactions, risk perceptions, and willingness to participate in risk insurance. The findings highlight three major issues: low participation in insurance programs due to limited insurance literacy and enrollment, the significant financial burden on the government from material losses, and the critical need for disaster insurance schemes for homes and fixed assets. The study emphasizes the urgency of implementing disaster risk financing in Indonesia, with a focus on the vulnerability of poor and low-income households. It also stresses the importance of enhancing disaster risk governance and promoting public-private partnerships on small-scale insurance schemes. Plain language summary This study explores the aftermath of the Cianjur earthquake in Indonesia in November 2022, focusing on the vulnerability and socio-economic impacts on affected communities. It reveals that despite frequent earthquakes, many locals lack disaster preparedness knowledge. The study also highlights the potential of insurance schemes to protect valuable assets like homes, but participation varies due to factors like income, insurance knowledge, and government relief availability. The study proposes several recommendations to improve disaster risk financing mechanisms. These include conducting further studies to create a disaster risk index, enhancing educational interventions to increase insurance literacy, and improving governance by clearly defining authority between central and local governments. The study also suggests conducting pilot projects to test insurance schemes and exploring public-private partnerships for disaster risk financing. These steps aim to foster a more resilient society that can better cope with the socio-economic consequences of natural disasters.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to elicit the expectations for resilient post-disaster rebuilds from Caribbean project end-users. In anticipation of future climatological, meteorological, hydrological or geophysical disasters disaster, key stakeholders can articulate and incorporate strategies for resilience development, thus leading to improved end-users’ satisfaction and confidence. Design/methodology/approach This paper engages the results of a systematic literature review that identified 24 empirical resilience factors for post-disaster reconstruction projects. These factors informed a semi-structured questionnaire to elicit the perspectives of Caribbean end-users on a seven-point Likert scale. The quantitative analysis of both factor ranking and principal component analysis was performed to identify correlations and provides further interpretations on the desires of the end-users for resilient rebuilds. Findings The results presented in this paper highlight the collective perspectives on the Caribbean end-users on what they perceived to be aiding more resilient reconstruction projects. They identified reconstruction designs mindful of future hazards, policies that aid climate change mitigation, active assessment of key structures, readily available funding sources and ensuring stakeholder’s unbiased interest as the top-most empirical factors. Factor analysis suggested collaborations with inclusive training and multi-stakeholder engagement, critical infrastructure indexing and effective governance as the critical resilience development factors. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is first of its kind to explore the perspective of the Caribbean people regarding disaster reconstruction projects. It addresses developmental avenues for measurement indicators towards resilience monitoring and improvement. Additionally, the perspectives can provide construction industry professionals with tools for improved operational resilience objective-setting guidance, for Caribbean construction.

Climate change poses one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, necessitating a comprehensive investigation into its regional hydroclimatic impacts. This study examines future climatic trends in the Potohar region and hydrological responses across its primary basins (Haro, Soan, and Kanshi) using latest Global Circulation Models (GCMs) and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. We evaluate these changes under three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs: 245, 370, and 585) spanning the 21st century. After thoroughly evaluating precipitation and temperature data from 54 GCM runs using performance metrics like Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE), Absolute Bias (Abs bias) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), we identified the top two models best suited for this study: CNRM-ESM2-1 r1i1p1f2 and EC-EARTH3-VEG r3i1p1f1. These models undergo bias correction via Linear Scaling to provide accurate future climate projections. Our results reveal a warmer and wetter climate over Potohar. Temperature shows a consistent increase across all scenarios, with projections ranging from 0.60 °C to 3.38 °C for SSP245, 0.47 °C to 3.84 °C for SSP370, and 0.57 °C to 6.26 °C for SSP585, intensifying as the century progresses. Precipitation projections, unlike temperature, exhibit significant temporal and spatial variability. However, most SSPs indicate increased precipitation during the monsoon (JJAS) and reduction in winter (DJF). The Potohar region may experience annual precipitation increases of 3–17% for SSP245, 1–28% for SSP370, and − 5–23% for SSP585. Streamflow projections across the Haro (-4–98%) and Soan (-10–44%) Basins generally indicate an annual increase over future periods, while Kanshi (-24–31%) exhibits a mixed trend across the GCMs. Seasonal analysis further reveals distinct flow patterns across the three basins. Additionally, the EC-EARTH model projects the attainment of peak flow one month earlier across all basins in most SSPs. Interannual projections of hydroclimatic variables suggest more frequent extreme events. The changes quantified in this study underscore the urgent need for adaptive water management and region-specific climate action plans to mitigate climate change impacts on water resources, agriculture, urban planning, and disaster risk reduction in the Potohar region.

At high enough greenhouse gas concentrations, climate change might conceivably cause catastrophic damages with small but non-negligible probabilities. If the bad tail of climate damages is sufficiently fat, and if the coefficient of relative risk aversion is greater than one, the catastrophe-reducing insurance aspect of mitigation investments could in theory have a strong influence on raising the social cost of carbon. In this paper I exposit the influence of fat tails on climate change economics in a simple stark formulation focused on the social cost of carbon. I then attempt to place the basic underlying issues within a balanced perspective.