GAR 2015 Main Report

106

Part I - Chapter 5

and land titles, and is considered unsuitable for housing, but it was the only unoccupied land the families could find.6

Almost 90 per cent of El Salvador’s land mass and more than 95 per cent of its population are considered to be at risk of disasters.7 Examples of communities such as La Anemona abound, showing similar patterns of how migration and displacement themselves become drivers of new risks (Box 5.1).

Box 5.1 Mobility and vulnerability in Alaska

(Source: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service.)

Figure 5.6 La Anemona, El Salvador

and 2006; Skidmore and Toya, 2002

Skidmore, Mark and Hideki Toya. 2002,Do Natural Disasters Promote Long-Run Growth? Economic Inquiry, Vol, 40, Issue 4 (October): 664-687.. .

). For example, cyclone impact simulations for various countries show that medium-term economic performance would be adversely affected by disaster losses (UNISDR, 2013a

UNISDR. 2013a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: From Shared Risk to Shared Value: the Business Case for Disaster Risk Reduction, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. .

5.2 No place to call home

When disasters affect already vulnerable people, the resulting patterns of migration and displacement themselves can become drivers of new risks.

La Anemona is a community of almost 200 families on the periphery of San Salvador, a community born out of disaster (Figure 5.6). When Hurricane Ida swept over El Salvador in 2009, the people of La Anemona suffered heavy losses and decided to leave their former homes. The land they chose lacks basic infrastructure, services

The Kigiqitamiut people, a small Inupiat community on Alaska’s Bering Sea, are used to practising mobility as an adaptive strategy, having lived a nomadic existence for centuries as a fishing and hunting community. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, the government promoted their settlement (Marino, 2011

Marino, Elizabeth. 2011,The long history of environmental migration: Assessing vulnerability construction and obstacles to successful relocation in Shishmaref, Alaska, Global Environmental Change 22 (2012): 374-381.. .

), creating new risk by locking the Kigiqitamiut into a sedentary lifestyle in a hazard-exposed environment as well as creating dependency on non-local products. Over the last few decades, and despite protection measures put in place, houses and basic infrastructure have been destroyed by diminished sea ice, more frequent winds and storms, and increased coastal erosion and flooding (ibid.).

Today, climate change is adding to the challenges the community faces, and the question of relocating the entire village of Shishmaref has become a major concern, manifest in the creation of the Shishmaref Erosion and Relocation Coalition in 2001 (USGAO, 2009

USGAO (United States Government Accountability Office). 2009,Alaska Native Villages: Limited Progress Has Been Made on Relocating Villages Threatened by Flooding and Erosion, USGAO Report to Congressional Requesters. June 2009.. .

). But Shishmaref’s relocation is not without obstacles. First, the cost is estimated at around US$180 million for only 609 inhabitants (ibid.). While U.S legislation has guidelines for “recovery through rebuilding”, no clear guidelines exist for cases in which complete relocation is required; in Shishmaref, in situ reconstruction is not sustainable in the long run due to sea level rise and coastal erosion. Finally, the lack of coordination between different actors and government agencies is also an obstacle to effective relocation (Marino, 2011

).

The case of the Kigiqitamiut people highlights that dramatic social changes can be expected and that economic investments will not only have to be made in small island developing states and low-income nations. In Shishmaref, a marginalized minority community in one of the richest countries in the world, future predictions of climate risk have already become reality. Other parts of the world may follow soon.

	106 Part I - Chapter 5 and land titles, and is considered unsuitable for housing, but it was the only unoccupied land the families could find.6 Almost 90 per cent of El Salvador’s land mass and more than 95 per cent of its population are considered to be at risk of disasters.7 Examples of communities such as La Anemona abound, showing similar patterns of how migration and displacement themselves become drivers of new risks (Box 5.1). Box 5.1 Mobility and vulnerability in Alaska (Source: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service.) Figure 5.6 La Anemona, El Salvador and 2006; Skidmore and Toya, 2002 x Skidmore, Mark and Hideki Toya. 2002,Do Natural Disasters Promote Long-Run Growth? Economic Inquiry, Vol, 40, Issue 4 (October): 664-687.. . ). For example, cyclone impact simulations for various countries show that medium-term economic performance would be adversely affected by disaster losses (UNISDR, 2013a x UNISDR. 2013a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: From Shared Risk to Shared Value: the Business Case for Disaster Risk Reduction, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. . ). 5.2 No place to call home When disasters affect already vulnerable people, the resulting patterns of migration and displacement themselves can become drivers of new risks. La Anemona is a community of almost 200 families on the periphery of San Salvador, a community born out of disaster (Figure 5.6). When Hurricane Ida swept over El Salvador in 2009, the people of La Anemona suffered heavy losses and decided to leave their former homes. The land they chose lacks basic infrastructure, services The Kigiqitamiut people, a small Inupiat community on Alaska’s Bering Sea, are used to practising mobility as an adaptive strategy, having lived a nomadic existence for centuries as a fishing and hunting community. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, the government promoted their settlement (Marino, 2011 x Marino, Elizabeth. 2011,The long history of environmental migration: Assessing vulnerability construction and obstacles to successful relocation in Shishmaref, Alaska, Global Environmental Change 22 (2012): 374-381.. . ), creating new risk by locking the Kigiqitamiut into a sedentary lifestyle in a hazard-exposed environment as well as creating dependency on non-local products. Over the last few decades, and despite protection measures put in place, houses and basic infrastructure have been destroyed by diminished sea ice, more frequent winds and storms, and increased coastal erosion and flooding (ibid.). Today, climate change is adding to the challenges the community faces, and the question of relocating the entire village of Shishmaref has become a major concern, manifest in the creation of the Shishmaref Erosion and Relocation Coalition in 2001 (USGAO, 2009 x USGAO (United States Government Accountability Office). 2009,Alaska Native Villages: Limited Progress Has Been Made on Relocating Villages Threatened by Flooding and Erosion, USGAO Report to Congressional Requesters. June 2009.. . ). But Shishmaref’s relocation is not without obstacles. First, the cost is estimated at around US$180 million for only 609 inhabitants (ibid.). While U.S legislation has guidelines for “recovery through rebuilding”, no clear guidelines exist for cases in which complete relocation is required; in Shishmaref, in situ reconstruction is not sustainable in the long run due to sea level rise and coastal erosion. Finally, the lack of coordination between different actors and government agencies is also an obstacle to effective relocation (Marino, 2011 x Marino, Elizabeth. 2011,The long history of environmental migration: Assessing vulnerability construction and obstacles to successful relocation in Shishmaref, Alaska, Global Environmental Change 22 (2012): 374-381.. . ). The case of the Kigiqitamiut people highlights that dramatic social changes can be expected and that economic investments will not only have to be made in small island developing states and low-income nations. In Shishmaref, a marginalized minority community in one of the richest countries in the world, future predictions of climate risk have already become reality. Other parts of the world may follow soon.	Page 1 Page 10 Page 20 Page 30 Page 40 Page 50 Page 60 Page 70 Page 80 Page 90 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 ->Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 130 Page 140 Page 150 Page 160 Page 170 Page 180 Page 190 Page 200 Page 210 Page 220 Page 230 Page 240 Page 250 Page 260 Page 270 Page 280 Page 290 Page 300 Page 310