After the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is adopted, a global database as a tool to monitor disaster loss and damage databases is required. Several disaster loss and damage databases are in use globally. This paper aims to explore how the existing databases vary in three aspects of threshold, spatial resolution, and data quality control, as well as the limitations of the existing databases. We review previous studies comparing the existing global databases and extract the differences and limitations. The threshold of EM-DAT is clear, but its threshold results in ignoring small-scale disasters that DesInventar captures. The differences in disaster threshold create different pictures of disaster losses and/or risks. Regarding spatial resolution, only DesInventar provides disaster impact data at a municipal level, while others provide information at a country level. The limitations of the existing global database are categorized into four aspects, as follows: lack of disaggregated data, limited spatial coverage and resolution, insufficiency of completeness and reliability of data, and insufficient information on indirect loss. The implication from our findings is that, in order to complement the limitations of the existing disaster loss databases to use for decision making on disaster risk reduction, the following are required: cross-checking of data across different databases; complementary disaster loss data; and collection of an exhaustive and firsthand dataset with a transparent and internationally consistent methodology by policy makers.

Coastal communities are exposed to various environmental risks, including natural hazards such as storm surges and flooding. As climate change has escalated, the management of such dangers has grown in importance and urgency, particularly among states with long coast lines. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction have attracted attention from policymakers in Southeast Asia, which is one of the most disaster-prone regions. Coastal community resilience, however, is not determined by climate and disaster risks alone, but by other factors as well. Waste pollution is an environmental threat that may affect those who are dependent on marine resources. These multiple factors contribute to coastal resilience and are, in fact, addressed separately as different issues; therefore, conflicts or synergies in respective countermeasures often become oversights in the policy-making processes. Through a case study of key Philippine stakeholders, including fishing communities, we identified impacts of climate change, natural hazards, and waste on the livelihoods of community residents and the interplay among these factors. We aim to better understand the situation on the ground and contribute by improving policy recommendations for coastal communities. An integrated approach to enhance coastal adaptation is critical for maximising the effectiveness of the limited resources of communities.

Bhutan has increased exports of surplus hydropower generation, whereas Nepal has been suffering from domestic power shortages. Why has Bhutan successfully promoted hydropower development and exports, while Nepal has failed to do so? This paper focuses on inherent development barriers that stem from domestic power supply, internal governance systems, and indigenous societal sensitivity. There are lessons to be learned from Bhutan’s practices that could be applied in Nepal. First, hydropower development can be severely affected by electricity scarcity that arises when power export is privileged over domestic power supply. Nepal has fallen into this negative loop, whereas Bhutan has overcome it through policy interventions that ensure visible links between power exports and domestic power consumption. Second, the sector reforms in the two countries contrast in terms of institutional, operational, and financial efficiency. Without fundamental reforms, Nepal’s sector-wide inefficiency fuels a vicious circle. Third, local resource conflicts and social complexities have made Nepal’s hydropower projects more complicated than Bhutan’s. In planning hydropower projects, it is crucial to pay careful attention to domestic stakeholders and local benefits. Planners and governments must ensure that projects are designed with extensive benefit sharing mechanisms, sustainable value chains, effective sector reforms, and sufficient societal conflict management.

Atoll countries in the Pacific, namely Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu, will become sources of climate migrants in the foreseeable future. This study aimed to examine if people in these atoll countries were, are, or will be ready to successfully relocate to foreign countries by re-establishing their lives and livelihoods in a new environment. An international collaborative research project was launched and implemented from 2017 to 2019. Case studies were conducted in Micronesia, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands as the origin of climate migrants and in Fiji and the USA as their destination. It was found that a number of legal tools and practical policy measures are available for countries to alleviate the struggles of environmental migrants, despite the lack of a comprehensive legal framework that protects environmental migrants by allowing them to move to other countries. In addition, 65% of the college and university students in the Marshall Islands indicated education as their primary reason to migrate abroad, followed by work (15%), health (8%), family (7%), climate change (3%), and natural disasters (2%). The ratios of students who wished to migrate because of climate change were similar between the Marshall Islands (3%) and Micronesia (4%), despite the fact that the former is an atoll country and the latter is mostly composed of “high-lying islands.” As for the migrants from the Marshall Islands and Micronesia to the USA, climate change was revealed to be a contributing factor for some in their decision to migrate, and more so as a factor for not returning home. It was also found that education had more influence than religion or culture on people’s perception of climate change and its implications in the Marshall Islands and Kiribati. The policy implemented in Vienna, Austria was proved to be effective in avoiding the emergence of society and culture-bound mental illness, which is inherent to large, isolated ethnic communities.

A healthy community is a community resilient to disaster. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction considers disaster impacts on health and encourages the implementation of disaster medicine and access to mental health services. Life expectancy (LE) is a basic statistic that indicates public health achievements and social development, including the health system, infrastructure, and accurate vital statistics. Thus, we hypothesized that LE corelates with disaster risk and strategies to achieve long LE can help achieving disaster risk reduction. We compared the disaster risk obtained from Index for Risk Management (INFORM) with the LE of both genders at birth to identify which component of INFORM risk correlates with LE. A correlation analysis revealed that overall INFORM risk negatively correlated with LE. The natural hazard category did not correlate with LE, but the human hazard category, vulnerability, and lack of coping capacity negatively correlated with LE. In the vulnerability dimension, indicators of socioeconomic vulnerability, health conditions, and children U5 negatively correlated with LE. In the lack of coping capacity dimension, indicators of communication, physical infrastructure, and access to health care negatively correlated with LE. Japan has achieved the longest LE and a low INFORM risk because of its lower vulnerability and reduced lack of coping capacity, including healthrelated indicators. In a cluster analysis of LE and INFORM categories of risk, we divided countries into four clusters and found categories that could be improved. Compared with another global disaster risk index, the Word Risk Index (WRI), the INFORM risk index seems to represent the overall disaster risk better, though they have different aspects of risk evaluation. The WRI is also negatively correlated with LE, supporting our hypothesis. In conclusion, LE is an important indicator of disaster risk and strategies to achieve long LE can be effective and important strategies in disaster risk reduction.

There is great scholarly and practical interest in local academic institutions’ potential contributions to community rehabilitation and reconstruction in the wake of disasters. Using survey data, this study seeks to quantitatively verify the intermediate function of local academic institutions in building mutual understanding and consensus between local residents and external actors during disaster recovery efforts. The survey measured Indonesians’ perceptions of disaster relief efforts following the Sumatran earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. It was conducted by Syiah Kuala University Aceh, Indonesia, between July and October 2020. The authors applied parametric methods to analyze the data, including regression analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The analysis results reveal a relationship between the intermediate function of local academic institutions, and residents’ overall satisfaction with disaster recovery efforts. The findings suggest that the institutions’ expected intermediate functions may be influenced by regional factors, and that future policy-makers should consider regional characteristics to improve the efficacy of local disaster response and recovery efforts.