Risk and Resilience

Risk and Resilience: Disaster, Climate Change and Development is an accessible and timely exploration of the first principles of disaster risk management and resilience. It delves into the complex interplay of natural hazards, biological disasters as well and environmental and geopolitical risks. It takes into account how natural hazards have increased in frequency and fury over the years, often influenced or catalyzed by anthropogenic factors. In the context of the loss of lives and livelihoods that these disasters have caused, the book lays the groundwork for mapping effective disasters risk governance strategies and climate change adaptations to minimize damage to infrastructures and reduce the burden on sustainable development. The initial chapters cover global risk management frameworks and their implication on both the national and local level before pivoting to the challenges of sustainable development and the recovery process after a disaster. Following that, it focuses on the use of climate change and adaptation practices and their link to disaster and developmental frameworks. The various dimensions of vulnerability including exposure are discussed and the concept of systemic risk for various natural disasters is laid out before going further into resilience, adaptation approaches and the theories of damage and loss pertaining to natural disasters. From there, the subsequent chapters delineate concepts related to coastal and delta system resilience, and the part played by policies, risk management planning and technology in risk reduction. This textbook is a key resource for upper-level undergraduate students studying disaster risk management and resilience in earth and environmental sciences, as well as researchers and professionals working in hazard and risk, disaster risk management, sustainable development and disaster governance. It contains study questions and case studies as additional resources for students and instructors.