Promoting sustainable development through disaster risk management

This paper highlights a number of ways in which disaster risk management financing and governance can be used to advance sustainable development and, likewise, in which development actions can be used to strengthen disaster resilience. These include: integration of disaster risk in the design of development policies, strategies, land use plans, building codes, and individual investments; the creation of incentives for investments in resilience; and actions to ensure that postdisaster support is deliberately designed with a view to the achievement of a country’s sustainable development goals. The working paper was conceptualized as part of the Asian Development Bank’s broader technical work on financing for the post-2015 sustainable development agenda for Asia and the Pacific.

Natural hazards challenge efforts to reduce poverty, however there are opportunities to take actions that strengthen both disaster resilience and support sustainable development. Asia and the Pacific are subject to all major types of natural hazards and dominate disaster impact categories across all regions of the world. These disasters undermine sustainable development and challenge efforts to reduce poverty. Conversely, however, many actions to advance sustainable development can potentially strengthen disaster resilience. Likewise, resources spent on strengthening disaster resilience can advance human development.