COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: THE ROLE OF GEOINFORMATICS AND GEO-COLLABORATION IN LINKING MITIGATION AND DISASTER RECOVERY IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN

The recurring failure of communities at risk to build mitigation into disaster recovery activities to reduce risks against future disaster events remains unresolved. In fact, some communities seem to learn so little from the disastrous experience of other communities; they either commit the same calamitous mistakes or do nothing to improve their circumstances before disaster actually strikes them. Policies exist, yet resilience building systems are lacking from the pragmatic stages of disaster recovery. Beyond sustained preparedness and relief operations, communities must also concentrate on effective rehabilitation and efficient disaster recovery if they are to become resilient against future hazards. The Eastern Caribbean islands, like many other developing countries, typify this failure of integrating mitigation into disaster recovery despite numerous incidents of hurricanes and tropical storms over the past decades. It is a socio-technical issue that needs to engage reliable information exchange mechanisms and efficient social networks to initiate and create solutions.The overall objective of this study is to explore how countries can improve mitigation through disaster recovery activities. It documents the results of an analysis of experiences in disaster recovery and mitigation in the Eastern Caribbean following Hurricane Lenny in November 1999 and Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Through nested case design, the study constructs a framework for integrating mitigation into disaster recovery and comprehensive disaster management. It highlights relationships and interactions among households, builders, building designers, post-disaster rehabilitation agencies and disaster management organizations that can facilitate mitigation. It identifies factors that facilitate geospatial support in disaster management in the Eastern Caribbean and how geocollaboration enhances performance and effectiveness in comprehensive disaster management. Finally, the study modifies existing mechanisms for disaster mitigation and develops a scalable DHaRMS synchronization tool for mitigation implementation at multiple levels of society.This study is deemed important from an empirical perspective because it could yield valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of mitigation implementation as well as provide policy recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of mitigation and comprehensive disaster management. From a theoretical perspective, this research is oriented toward contributing to the theories of comprehensive disaster management and complexity

Climate Change: National and Local Policy Opportunities in China

Climate Change poses a wide range of potentially very severe threats in China. This aggravates the existing vulnerability of China and is one of the big challenges faced by the Chinese government. Adaptation programmes and projects are being developed and implemented at national and local level. As China is engaged in heavy investment in infrastructure development as a consequence of the rapid process of development and urbanization, mainstreaming adaptation into such development process is a priority for China. China has also made positive contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through participations in the CDM under the Kyoto Protocol framework. Although mitigation is not a priority at national or local level, it has been integrated into national and local development plans explicitly. This paper addresses the following questions: What is the policy space for climate change mitigation and adaptation policy at national and local level and what is already being done? The three case studies at local level - Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai – presented here, highlight the local benefits in terms of local pollution of integrating mitigation policies into local development. However, financial constraints usually prevent such a positive policy integration. National policies and international cooperation aiming at bridging the financial gap and promoting technology transfer would help in integrating local pollution control and mitigation efforts in China today.Climate Change, Local Policy, National Policy, Mitigation, Local Pollution

Spatial modelling of adaptation strategies for urban built infrastructures exposed to flood hazards

The recent 2010/2011 floods in the central and southern Queensland (Australia) prompted this research to investigate the application of geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing in modelling the current flood risk, adaptation/coping capacity, and adaptation strategies. Identified Brisbane City as the study area, the study aimed to develop a new approach of formulating adaptation/coping strategies that will aid in addressing flood risk management issues of an urban area with intensive residential and commercial uses. Fuzzy logic was the spatial analytical tool used in the integration of flood risk components (hazard, vulnerability, and exposure) and in the generation of flood risk and adaptation capacity indices. The research shows that 875 ha, 566 ha, and 828 ha were described as areas with relatively low, relatively moderate, and relatively high risk to flooding, respectively. Identified adaptation strategies for areas classified as having relatively low (RL), relatively moderate (RM), relatively high (RH), and likely very high (LVH) adaptation/coping capacity were mitigation to recovery phases, mitigation to response phases, mitigation to preparedness phases, and mitigation phase, respectively. Integrating the results from the flood risk assessment, quantitative description of adaptation capacity, and identification of adaptation strategies, a new analytical technique identified as flood risk-adaptation capacity index-adaptation strategies (FRACIAS) linkage model was developed for this study

Australian carbon biosequestration and bioenergy policy co-evolution: mechanisms, mitigation and convergence

The intricacies of international land-use change and forestry policy reflect the temporal, technical and political difficulty of integrating biological systems and climate change mitigation. The plethora of co-existing policies with varied technical rules, accreditation requirements, accounting methods, market registries, etc., disguise the unequal efficacies of each mechanism. This work explores the co-evolution and convergence of Australian voluntary and mandatory climate-related policies at the biosequestration-bioenergy interface. Currently, there are temporal differences between the fast-evolving and precise climate-change mechanisms, and the long-term 'permanence' sought from land use changes encouraged by biosequestration instruments. Policy convergence that favours the most efficient, appropriate and scientifically substantiated policy mechanisms is required. These policies must recognise the fundamental biological foundation of biosequestration, bioenergy, biomaterial industrial development and other areas such as food security and environmental concerns. Policy mechanisms that provide administrative simplicity, project longevity and market certainty are necessary for rural and regional Australians to cost-effectively harness the considerable climate change mitigation potential of biological systems

International Support of Climate Change Policies in Developing Countries: Strategic, Moral and Fairness Aspects

<br /> International transfers in climate policy channeled from the industrialized to the developing<br /> world either support the mitigation of climate change or the adaptation to global warming.<br /> From an allocative efficiency point of view, transfers supporting mitigation tend to be Pareto-improving<br /> whereas this is not very likely in the case of adaptation support. We illustrate this<br /> by regarding transfer schemes currently applied under the UN Framework Convention on<br /> Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto framework.<br /> However, if we enrich the analysis by integrating distributional aspects, we find that<br /> international adaptation funding may help both developing and developed world. Interestingly<br /> this is not due to altruistic incentives, but due to follow-up effects on international<br /> negotiations on climate change mitigation. We argue that the lack of fairness perceived by<br /> developing countries in the international climate policy arena can be reduced by the support<br /> of adaptation in these countries. As we show – taking into account different fairness concepts<br /> – this might raise the prospects of success in international negotiations on climate change.<br /> Yet, we find that the influence of transfers may induce different fairness effects on climate<br /> change mitigation negotiations to run counter.<br /> We discuss whether current transfer schemes under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto framework<br /> adequately serve the distributive and allocative objectives pursued in international climate<br /> policy.<br />adaptation, climate change, fairness, Global Environmental Facility, international climate policy, mitigation, reciprocity, transfers