Beyond barriers: integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Pacific
The case for integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) to minimise loss and damage, reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience continues to grow. This is against a backdrop of increasing frequency and severity of disasters worldwide and the recognition that, at the community level, the distinction between DRR and CCA is artificial.
Linkages between the two policy fields, coming belatedly to communities’ holistic understandings of what is driving their exposure to risk and how to manage it, have driven researchers, policymakers and practitioners to consider how to more closely align approaches to produce better outcomes for crisis-affected populations.
The case has been made in academic and practitioner literature, agency reports and emerging policies, yet what it means from a community perspective to integrate DRR and CCA has received little research attention.
This paper is the first step in a research initiative that seeks to identify the barriers to and opportunities for enhanced DRR and CCA implementation, conducted jointly by Humanitarian Advisory Group and World Vision Australia with the support of the Australian Humanitarian Partnership.