This book uses two international frameworks—the Millennium Development Goals and the Hyogo Framework for Action, a program focused on disaster risk management—to study the key trends in the region in terms of disaster incidence, sources of vulnerability and social and economic challenges. As both frameworks draw to a close, international debate is taking place during the period 2012–2015 on their current progress. This book seeks to help readers understand the process better. The chapters are written by eight independent internationally based authors. Collectively, they have extensive regional experience in the areas of disaster risk management and climate change as well as working in academia, research, consultancy, the UN and international agencies, government and the NGO sector. The analysis presented benefits from their varied backgrounds in medicine, architecture, economics, engineering, planning, social studies, development studies and political science. Throughout the book, relevant examples, drawn from the region, are included to ‘earth’ the project in the harsh realities of risk and disaster impact.

The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most vulnerable to a variety of natural and manmade hazards. This edited book productively brings together scholars and senior public officials having direct experience in dealing with or researching on recent major natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific. The chapters focus on disaster preparedness and management, including pre-event planning and mitigation, crisis leadership and emergency response, and disaster recovery. Specific events discussed in this book include a broad spectrum of disasters such as tropical storms and typhoons in the Philippines; earthquakes in China; tsunamis in Indonesia, Japan, and Maldives; and bushfires in Australia. The book aims to generate discussions about improved risk reduction strategies throughout the region. It seeks to provide a comparative perspective across countries to draw lessons from three perspectives: public policy, humanitarian systems, and community engagement.

Disaster events impact Asia and the Pacific more than any other region in the world. In light of current and future climate and disaster risks, there is an urgent need to address the region’s underinvestment in disaster risk and reduction. This publication aims to guide policy makers and other stakeholders on how to scale up disaster risk reduction financing in developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank. It provides an overview of financing opportunities—including instruments and mechanisms—as well as country case studies and practical tips for governments to implement enhanced disaster risk reduction.

Disaster risk management is essential in the fight against poverty. Disasters can, in an instant, wipe out decades of hard-fought poverty reduction and development gains and push countless households into poverty. Disasters disproportionally affect the poor: Vulnerable and marginalized groups, including women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, are at particular risk. East Asia and the Pacific is the most disaster-stricken region in the world, suffering from small recurrent as well as rare high-impact events. East Asia is rapidly urbanizing, and cities are becoming disaster hotspots. Unplanned or poorly planned urbanization, which puts more people and assets in harm’s way, is the single largest driver of disaster risk. There is deep uncertainty about future disaster and climate risks, challenging our ability to adapt to new developments and changing the physical and natural environment. Decision makers can make a significant difference by effectively managing disaster risk and building resilience. With education and communication, preparedness, and investments, urbanization can be channeled as a tremendous positive force for development. By decreasing disaster exposure and vulnerability through systematic assessments and communication of risks, better land-use planning, and many other practical measures, the impacts of natural hazards can be reduced significantly. At the same time, it is necessary to recognize that the risks of disasters cannot be entirely eliminated, and countries need to plan for failure by considering different scenarios, especially within complex systems and networks. Preventive investments in risk reduction and emergency preparedness can be extremely cost-effective and can greatly reduce the impact of natural hazards. Governments can prioritize actions based on informed decisions about the level of risk to reduce the risks from disasters. Public investments, such as early-warning systems, retrofitting of critical infrastructure at risk, and mainstreaming systematic risk assessments into relevant public investment planning processes, can help to reduce poverty and promote sustainable economic growth. The World Bank supports countries around the world in mainstreaming a comprehensive and integrated approach to disaster risk management into development. The World Bank provides analytical and advisory services, helps to build climate and disaster resilience into core investments across sectors, and offers unique financial solutions to better manage the contingent fiscal risks from disasters.

This book documents how nurses have shown their dedication, courage, expertise and compassion in helping communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disastrous events. It aims to inspire and equip nurses and other health professionals to help people in disaster-affected areas and contribute to community resilience. The last decade (2005-2015) has been characterized by a number of overwhelming natural disasters - tropical storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis; and threats of emerging infectious diseases - SARS, MERSCoV and Ebola around the world. Countries from the Asia Pacific region, such as Australia, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Thailand and Vanuatu, have borne the brunt of the devastation caused by these catastrophic events. Nurses from these countries have stepped in providing emergency care in hospitals and in the field, addressing public health needs in evacuation centers, supporting epidemiologic surveillance and conducting health education, training and research, to help save lives and support communities build back better.

This book brings together interdisciplinary perspectives from across the Asia Pacific region, covering four main sections: 1) Governance, 2) Education and Capacity, 3) Science, Technology, Risk Assessment and Communities, and 4) Recovery. The chapters address different dimensions of Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), which are linked to Sustainable Development Goals, as well as Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

This book is a joint endeavour of the three partner universities to develop a book with in-depth and state-of-art analysis for the academic community of East Asia and the world. Past disasters, like the 2008 Great Sichuan Earthquake in China and the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, saw good efforts of East Asian countries in helping each other. Such a trend has been further strengthened in these countries’ recent cooperation and mutual support in their fight against Covid-19 pandemic. While China, Japan, and South Korea are geographically and culturally contiguous and hence may share some characteristics in their risk management principles and practices, there may also be many significant differences due to their different socioeconomic and political systems. The commonalities and variances in East Asia risk management systems are also reflected by their recent responses to the Covid-19 challenges. While all three countries demonstrated overall success in controlling the epidemic, the measures taken by them were different. This research will be of interest to policymakers, scholars and economists.