Skip to main content

Governance Research and News

Advancing Governance for International Development

Natural Disasters and Adaptive Capacity

Publication: Working Paper -
Author:
Jeff Dayton-Johnson -
Publisher: OECD Development Centre;

Natural disasters damage well-being, both in their immediate and long-term aftermath, and because the insecurity of exposure to disasters is in itself harmful to risk-averse people. As such, mitigating and coping with the risk of natural disasters is a pressing issue for economic development. This paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding natural disasters. Disasters, which imply tragic human costs, are distinguished from hazards, which are events like earthquakes or flooding: hazards only translate into disasters when societies are vulnerable to them. Consequently international development policy can play a role in reducing the costs of disasters by addressing vulnerability. READ MORE
Post Comment

0 Comments

To comment you must be a registered user.