{"id":40984,"date":"2018-07-27T13:10:03","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T03:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=40984"},"modified":"2018-07-27T13:10:03","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T03:10:03","slug":"fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/","title":{"rendered":"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The devastating floods we\u2019ve recently seen in Japan are an indicator<\/a> of the kinds of challenges we\u2019re facing as a result of a changing climate.<\/p>\n

The landslides and flooding across much of western Japan killed at least 200 people<\/a>. The Japanese government mobilised 75,000 troops and emergency workers and nearly 80 helicopters<\/a> for the search-and-rescue effort. The Japan Meteorological Agency noted that parts of southwestern Japan received as much as 10 centimetres\u00a0of rain per hour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since the floods, Japan has faced the \u2018silent killer\u2019; its weather agency has declared the heatwave that\u2019s gripping the country<\/a> a natural disaster. The \u2018unprecedented levels of heat\u2019 have claimed at least 65 lives in the past week.<\/p>\n

Robert Glasser\u2019s recent Strategist<\/em> post<\/a> on climate change and risk reduction strategies noted the improvements in disaster management over the past two decades. He pointed in particular to the establishment of early warning systems and evacuation planning as key additions to capability.<\/p>\n

But Glasser also noted that we haven\u2019t made much progress in addressing the economic losses from natural disasters, partly because we\u2019re failing to incorporate risk reduction measures into planning and investment, and also because we\u2019re not sufficiently factoring in climate change.<\/p>\n

In both Australia and our region, we\u2019re going to need a much stronger culture of preparedness when it comes to natural disasters. And we\u2019re going to have to lift our readiness efforts for catastrophic disasters.<\/p>\n

Insurance will play an increasingly critical role in helping individuals and communities recover from disasters. To reduce the financial burden on individuals, communities and governments, there are few more important or valuable disaster recovery tools than insurance.<\/p>\n

At the 2018 meeting of Pacific Islands Forum economic ministers in April, the group considered<\/a> how to develop a climate change insurance facility for the Pacific islands to manage their vulnerability to the financial impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n

Glasser stressed the importance of mitigation efforts, noting that over the next 15 years global investment in new infrastructure will exceed the current value of the entire existing stock, providing \u2018a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reverse the trend of increasing economic losses by embedding additional resilience in the built environment\u2019. This points to the importance of investment in pre-disaster mitigation to enhance resilience and reduce the effects of disasters.<\/p>\n

In the US, for example, a recent study<\/a> by the National Institute of Building Sciences showed that for every $1 invested in mitigation, another $6 was saved on recovery costs later. This should be a marker for Australian state and territory governments to significantly raise their spending on mitigation. Such funding will be important to drive risk reduction.<\/p>\n

Fostering a culture of preparedness appears to be a priority<\/a> of the Australian government\u2019s newly established national resilience taskforce.<\/p>\n

But as the head of the taskforce, Mark Crosweller, noted at a recent ASPI event<\/a> examining strategies for promoting disaster resilience nationally and internationally, we\u2019re going to have to get a lot better at identifying vulnerabilities, rather than just focusing on hazards and exposure to harm.<\/p>\n

That\u2019ll involve a system-wide shift in accessing and analysing various types of data about the vulnerabilities faced by people and organisations (insurance companies can help here, as they have lots of relevant risk data). And as Crosweller also noted, we\u2019re going to have to talk a lot more about what we\u2019re prepared to trade or lose when it comes to risk reduction.<\/p>\n

No doubt the resilience taskforce will also look at the role individuals can play as the real first responders, and how we can best prepare them to help speed response and recovery efforts.<\/p>\n

Countries in our region and Australian disaster agencies will need to work more on continuity planning to ensure that essential government services can be restored quickly and efficiently following a disaster.<\/p>\n

By working together as a nation and working with our disaster-prone neighbours, we can reduce the impacts of future disasters by removing historical vulnerabilities. It\u2019s an ambitious goal, yet with the right approaches it\u2019s achievable. Last year\u2019s foreign policy white paper<\/a> certainly put considerable emphasis on building resilience in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n

All of these matters will be raised at the highest regional level when Australia hosts over 50 countries in 2020\u00a0for the next Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DFAT\u2019s humanitarian coordinator, Jamie Isbister, who also spoke<\/a> at ASPI\u2019s resilience seminar, pointed out that the 2020 conference provides an opportunity for Australia to show real leadership in disaster preparedness and resilience. It will also create a useful platform over the next two years for Australia and the region to focus on the critical partnerships and issues involved in disaster risk reduction in the Indo-Pacific, the world\u2019s most disaster-prone region<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The devastating floods we\u2019ve recently seen in Japan are an indicator of the kinds of challenges we\u2019re facing as a result of a changing climate. The landslides and flooding across much of western Japan killed …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":40995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[283,1018,1178,573],"class_list":["post-40984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-climate-change","tag-disaster-resilience","tag-natural-disaster","tag-preparedness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFostering a culture of disaster preparedness | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The devastating floods we\u2019ve recently seen in Japan are an indicator of the kinds of challenges we\u2019re facing as a result of a changing climate. The landslides and flooding across much of western Japan killed ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-27T03:10:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tsunami-67499_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anthony Bergin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anthony Bergin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tsunami-67499_640.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tsunami-67499_640.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":423},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/\",\"name\":\"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-27T03:10:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-27T03:10:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a057a968d3f01faeb5273fc8af831564\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a057a968d3f01faeb5273fc8af831564\",\"name\":\"Anthony Bergin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992e5536861e30520d738a28175a5ee0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992e5536861e30520d738a28175a5ee0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anthony Bergin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/anthony-bergin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness | The Strategist","og_description":"The devastating floods we\u2019ve recently seen in Japan are an indicator of the kinds of challenges we\u2019re facing as a result of a changing climate. The landslides and flooding across much of western Japan killed ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2018-07-27T03:10:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tsunami-67499_640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anthony Bergin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anthony Bergin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tsunami-67499_640.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tsunami-67499_640.jpg","width":640,"height":423},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/","name":"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-07-27T03:10:03+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-27T03:10:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a057a968d3f01faeb5273fc8af831564"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/fostering-a-culture-of-disaster-preparedness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a057a968d3f01faeb5273fc8af831564","name":"Anthony Bergin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992e5536861e30520d738a28175a5ee0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992e5536861e30520d738a28175a5ee0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anthony Bergin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/anthony-bergin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40984"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40984"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41000,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40984\/revisions\/41000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}