Involving public private partnerships as building blocks for integrated natural catastrophes country risk management - Sharing on the French national experiences of economic instruments integrated with information and knowledge management tools

This paper presents, from a practitioner’s experience and perspective, an analysis of a country’s efforts to implement progressively, during the last three decades, its public NatCat DRM policies towards an integrated national framework, in line with the HFA and Post 2015 Framework for DRR objectives. After a short profiling of the French disaster experience and DRR policy progress, three main building blocks of this IDRiM country policy framework are considered through their common feature of involving the national insurance industry in PPP or PuP schemes: (i) a national property insurance / NatCat risk transfer scheme coupled with DRR policy provisions, since a law adopted 33 years ago; (ii) the main NatCat DRR national policy financing scheme, since a law adopted 20 years ago; (iii) a risk data sharing platform and IKMS , to support participative governance, as a National Observatory of Natural Risks (ONRN), since a PuP agreement adopted three years ago. The reasons and drivers for the involvement of the insurance industry, as a main partner to each of these building blocks of the integrated public DRR policy framework, are investigated and put in the broader perspective of relevant recommendations issued at international and EU levels.

Particular emphasis is drawn on the third most recent building block, acting as a powerful catalyzer for complete integration and more participative governance, from national to local levels. Illustration is provided through the example of combining ONRN indicators at the level of a French region, in partnership with the Regional Observatory. Comparable situations about the existence of these three building blocks in other countries, separately or combined are briefly commented.

Journal of Integrated Disaster Risk Management, Vol 5, No 2 (2015), p. 82-100