Invited perspectives: A research agenda towards Disaster Risk Management pathways in multi-risk assessment

Abstract

Abstract. Whilst the last decades have seen a clear shift in emphasis from managing natural hazards to managing risk, the majority of natural hazard risk research still focuses on single hazards. Internationally, there are calls for more attention for multi-hazards and multi-risks. Within the European Union (EU), the concepts of multi-hazard and multi-risk assessment and management have taken centre stage in recent years. In this perspective paper, we outline several key developments in multi-hazard and multi-risk research in the last decade, with a particular focus on the EU. We present challenges for multi-risk management as outlined in several research projects and papers. We then present a research agenda for addressing these challenges. We argue for an approach that addresses multi-hazard, multi-risk management through the lens of sustainability challenges that cut across sectors, regions, and hazards. In this approach, the starting point is a specific sustainability challenge, rather than an individual hazard or sector, and trade-offs and synergies are examined across sectors, regions, and hazards. We argue for in-depth case studies in which various approaches for multi-hazard and multi-risk management are co-developed and tested in practice. Finally, we present a new pan-European research project in which our proposed research agenda will be implemented, with the goal of enabling stakeholders to develop forward-looking disaster risk management pathways that assess trade-offs and synergies of various strategies across sectors, hazards, and scales.

Conceptualising multiple hazards and cascading effects on critical infrastructures

“…To our knowledge, the MSB is not defining what constitutes a multiple hazard. This situation is not unique to Sweden; studies have highlighted the lack of clear frameworks and guidelines internationally (such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction), as well as nationally (Ward et al, 2021;De Angeli et al, 2022).…”

Not enough time to recover? Understanding the poverty effects of recurrent floods in the Philippines

“…The intensification and frequency increase of extreme weather events 28 may render incomplete recoveries more likely in the absence of adequate adaptation and resilience building measures. Therefore, it is important to better understand whether this intensification of extreme events would lead to a disproportionate increase of losses for households to allow for the development of farsighted coping national and local Adaptation Plans 29,30 and climate-proof resilience building strategies 27 .…”

“…However, a comprehensive approach to quantify the distributional effects and poverty implications of households' incomplete recoveries between recurrent extreme weather events is still missing 5,[25][26][27] . The intensification and frequency increase of extreme weather events 28 may render incomplete recoveries more likely in the absence of adequate adaptation and resilience building measures.…”