The current era is marked by a notable impact of climate change with increasingly pronounced effects and the rising consequences of disasters globally, with Latin America and the Caribbean among the most affected regions. The ability to prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from these challenges becomes essential to ensure the continuity and sustainability of projects.
Integrating measures that strengthen resilience from the early stages of the project not only safeguards investments and resources involved, supporting their long-term sustainability, but also contributes to the protection of human lives, the preservation of the environment, and social and economic progress in the most exposed and vulnerable communities. To achieve this, it is necessary to address these challenges while avoiding exacerbating existing risks, adopting low-regret approaches (flexible measures that adapt to future uncertainty and/or do not exacerbate damages in case of failure) based on understanding risk development processes.
By considering these aspects from the outset during planning and design stages, projects significantly enhance their ability to adapt to their context and manage future uncertainty, thus increasing their resilience and long-term benefits.
How does the Inter-American Development Bank approaches disaster and climate change risk?
At the IDB, we are strongly committed to building resilience to disasters and climate change. The Bank plays a key role in the LAC region in identifying Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) opportunities, concentrating efforts on strengthening its clients’ capacity to implement Disaster Risk Management (DRM) measures through the projects it finances.
Additionally, through the implementation of our Environmental and Social Policy Framework (ESPF), specifically Performance Standard 4 (ESPS4), and our Disaster and Climate Change Risk Assessment Methodology (DCCRAM), we promote risk identification, assessment, and management in infrastructure projects with a phased approach that allocates resources proportional to the risk classification and complexity of the project.
The IDB Methodology is organized into five progressive steps:
- 1. identifying exposure to hazards,
- 2. complementing hazard identification with an assessment of criticality and vulnerability – to grant a risk classification,
- 3. conducting a simplified qualitative analysis – disaster risk narrative,
- 4. conducting a detailed qualitative analysis if necessary – determined by the narrative, and
- 5. conducting a quantitative analysis if necessary – determined by the narrative and Step 4.
The goal of this process is to understand the risk and identify key aspects to be included during the project lifecycle through the respective Disaster Risk Management Plan (DRMP) required for all operations classified with Moderate or High disaster and climate change risk classification.
The DRMP is a fundamental instrument because it provides a solid and structured document that establishes preventive and preparatory structural and non-structural measures, as well as emergency response and recovery measures, allowing us to proactively anticipate events inherent to the project’s context.
Explore our new Disaster and Climate Change Risk Assessment Methodology website!
The IDB has knowledge promotion among its strategic pillars to enhance effectiveness in development, transparent access to information, and the creation of communities of practice. In this regard, we have made the Methodology accessible not only to our clients but also to the general audience in an educational and interactive manner on the IDB Methodology’s new external website, facilitating access to this key resource for the development of resilient infrastructure, which has already received nearly 25,000 downloads since its publication in 2019.
Can I use this Methodology for other projects?
Our Methodology is not limited exclusively to IDB projects; it is applicable and effective for any type of infrastructure projects. From complex engineering projects to community initiatives, it offers tools with a flexible approach to promote resilience and manage risk, beyond the context or sector.
We invite you to learn more about the DCCRAM methodology, its steps, key techniques, recommendations, and supplementary material, along with examples of successfully applied to projects.
Expand your knowledge by navigating the new Methodology website!
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