Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sostenibilidad

Just another web-blogs Sites site

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Agriculture and Food Security
    • Climate change
    • Ecosystems and Biodiversity
    • Environmental and Social Safeguards
    • Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes
    • Institutionality
    • Responsible Production and Consumption
  • Authors
  • English
    • Español

Natural? Disasters

October 14, 2015 por Hori Tsuneki Leave a Comment


This past February Argentina suffered one of its worst catastrophes of the last 50 years, resulting in more than 4,000 affected households, around a dozen fatalities, close to 5,000 evacuees and a financial loss close to 200 million U.S. dollars. These numbers are merely an estimate of the damage caused by the storm, which shook the province of Cordoba earlier this year. This terrible disaster left us with a bad aftertaste, also reminding us how vulnerable humankind is to nature. The question arises, however: How prepared can we be in order to reduce such vulnerability?

Let us start by differentiating two concepts which are not synonymous; nature’s phenomena and disasters. Hurricanes, floods, landslides, earthquakes, drought, wild fires, etc., are an integral part of ecosystems and have played a part in the environment in which species have evolved;  human activity, on the other hand, is often the trigger for disaster. Population density growth, whether natural or via migration, increases the impact on ecosystems. Disproportionate growth and inadequate natural resource management increase risks for the population. In other words, disasters are socio – environmental events, whose occurrence is a result of the social construction of risk.

desastres naturales

Let us take natural hydric phenomena as an example. Water related disasters represent 90% of all natural disasters. Population increase results in a larger number of people exposed to impacts such as floods, draught, storms, landslides, among other water related threats. In addition, massive, uncontrolled deforestation increases habitat and population vulnerability to such threats. As trees are extracted from a given area, the soil’s capacity to absorb water is reduced, thus increasing the chances of floods and landslides. The ecosystem, being dynamic, may recover, but in many cases unrestrained exploitation allows no time for healing in order to mitigate negative impacts.

Looking back at Argentina, the NGO Greenpeace pointed out that less than 4% of the province of Cordoba’s native original forests are left. Even after the implementation of regulations aimed at the forest’s protection, unrestrained deforestation is still a problem for this country.

In 2014 the Inter-American Development Bank carried out a study in different countries, including Argentina, applying an indicators system. These indicators include the Index of Governance and Public Policy in Disaster Risk Management (iGOPP); which quantifies the extent to which government actions, policies and regulations include aspects related to disaster risk management. The study’s results demonstrate that, even though there are regulations for hydric resources environmental management in place, they do not include disaster risk management as part of their objectives. For a country in which 68% of all registered disasters have been triggered by hydro-meteorological threats, its regulatory developments and improvements are still not sufficient.

Broadly speaking the Latin America and Caribbean region lost over 158 million acres, approximately 7%, of forest area between 2000 and 2010. Besides that, financial losses caused by water related disasters have increased in the region in the last decade, reaching approximately 52 million U.S. dollars. In this region environmental damage, poverty, disproportionate urban growth and poor early warning systems increase the countries’ vulnerability while amplifying the impacts of natural threats.

It is important to first create laws and environmental policies that promote the recognition of the importance of maintaining ecosystems and, second, to take the measures necessary to help minimize those human activities which may potentially increase disaster risk in the future. Good urban legislation generally enables economies of scale oriented towards the environment and its protection, as well as disaster risk management. There is still a lot to be done in the region, but the first step to hamper disaster lies in identifying where we are vulnerable.

International Day for Disaster Reduction, 13th October

If you are interested in Natural Capital and Biodiversity, follow us on Twitter @BIDecosistemas

Photos:
Title: Cyclist on Flooded Street – Salta – Argentina,  Adam Jones ©CC BY-SA 2.0

Filed Under: Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes, Uncategorized

Hori Tsuneki

Tsuneki Hori is a Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Specialist in the Environment, Rural Development and Risk Management Division of the IDB. His work includes sector dialogue facilitation with national stakeholders, technical document preparation, loan and technical cooperation design, and portfolio management related to disaster risk management. He has published several books and international journals in the field of DRM, including his latest book “Local Disaster Risk Management in a Changing Climate: A Perspective from Central America” published by Emerald Publishing of the United Kingdom. He holds a PhD in International Environmental & Disaster Management from the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

SEARCH

Sustainability

This blog is a space to reflect about the challenges, opportunities and the progress made by Latin American and Caribbean countries on the path towards the region’s sustainable development.

SIMILAR POSTS

  • Seven things you need to know about disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean
  • What is the IDB doing to reduce disaster and climate risks in its operations?
  • Let’s call disasters by their names
  • Adaptation Initiatives in Agriculture and Infrastructure in Haiti
  • What can be done to improve disaster preparedness and response in Haiti? Key Takeaways from a Mercredi de Réflexion

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

Blog posts written by Bank employees:

Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


For blogs written by external parties:

For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



Privacy Policy

Derechos de autor © 2023 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

Aviso Legal

Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

facebook
twitter
youtube
This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
To learn more about cookies, click here
x
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT