Towards Policy Integration of Disaster Risk, Climate Adaptation, and Development in ASEAN: A Baseline Assessment

Abstract

This NTS Insight attempts to create a baseline assessment of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) policies in ten Southeast Asian countries. More than 50 per cent of global disaster mortality occurred in Southeast Asia between 2004 and 2014, and four ASEAN member states are ranked in the top 10 countries most affected by climate risk between 1996 and 2015. The integration of relevant existing global mechanisms into national and local regulatory systems, and especially into national development plans, is therefore necessary to ensure the development of adaptive and resilience capacities. Although the region has realised the importance of streamlining DRR and CCA policies in development plans, a baseline of such efforts has yet to exist to date. This is the first series of the NTS Insight on a larger climate change and disaster risk study. The next NTS Insight will look into climate risks in ASEAN.