A Framework for Action by Dr. Andy Oreta
We live in an environment where nature and
infrastructures interact as shown in Figure 1. Our built environment is a
product of society’s utilization of resources and energy obtained from nature.
Infrastructure development, however, produces negative outputs like air
pollution and waste that have severe impact on human systems and the natural
environment including climate change. Nature, on the other hand, provides us
with useful resources but at the same time produces natural hazards that
threaten the built environment. Disasters
occur at the interface between the natural and human systems. The
interaction between the natural and built environment may trigger a disaster
that has impacts to the safety of man and sustainability of our environment.
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| Figure 1. Interaction of hazards, vulnerabilities and Disasters |
Achieving safety and sustainability is a
major challenge in regions or countries that are vulnerable to adverse natural
hazards like earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions, drought and
tsunamis. Infrastructures, if vulnerable to these hazards, become inoperable
making them useless. Many buildings and bridges have collapsed in the past due
to strong earthquakes and tsunamis. Traffic leads to a standstill when roads
and highways become flooded. Water infrastructures become ineffective during
water shortages due to drought. When these disasters occur, the quality of life
and safety of the people are affected. Safety from harm due to collapsed
buildings, safety from accidents during travel from office to homes and lack of
safe drinking water are examples of the impact of disasters on safety in
hazard-prone regions. Sustainability is also at stake in hazard-prone regions.
Disasters lead to wastage of resources and energy and produces debris which
contributes to environmental deterioration.
Safety and
sustainability issues are intertwined in the interaction between disaster and
development. Risk can be simply defined as:
Risk = Hazard x Elements at Risk
x Vulnerability
This model simply says
disaster risk increases with hazard and vulnerability. Hence, if we want to
reduce the risk of the ‘elements at risk’ (like people, structures, economy, etc) to a hazard and prevent a disaster,
then we must reduce hazards and vulnerabilities.
Hence our subcenter on
DRR-CCA simply has to go back to UNISDR definition of DRR to guide its actions
and programs. DRR is defined as “the
concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to
analyse and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced
exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise
management of land and the environment, and improved preparedness for adverse
events.” This definition is
summarized as a conceptual framework in Figure 2.
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| Conceptual Framework on how to address disaster risk |
Hence researches that
aim to reduce or avoid hazards and reduce vulnerabilities on infrastructures
and the community will lead to reduction of disaster risks. Reduced disaster
risks leads to safer structures and improved safety to the people. Reduced
disaster risks also leads to sustainability since there will be less damage to
infrastructures and less wastage of resources and less impact to the people
which translates to better living conditions. When we protect our people,
assets and infrastructures, we increase the people’s resilience and health,
preserve our resources and maintain the balance between built and natural
environment.
