1,721,212 research outputs found
Designing a flood management and insurance system in Hungary: A model-based stakeholder approach
No full textThis chapter describes how an integrated catastrophe model aided a stakeholder policy process focusing on the design of the Hungarian flood insurance system. The process incorporated views on flood insurance held by the public, local authorities, government ministries and private insurers. It was based on extensive interviews, a public survey administered to 400 persons in the risk and non-risk communities and a stakeholder workshop. Stakeholder participation was aided by a catastrophe model that could demonstrate the distribution of future flood losses among the victims, the government and the insurers depending on the design of the insurance pool. The Hungarian stakeholders reached consensus on the design of the national insurance system with all its implications for loss reduction and burden sharing. This pilot study illustrates the use of information technology in a participatory, stakeholder setting, and as such is of interest to all policy makers seeking social consensus for disaster risk management policies
Catastrophe models for informing risk management policy: An introduction
No full textCatastrophe models that combine data on past occurrences with future simulations of the hazard, exposure and vulnerability, and that take account of the dynamic environment as well as correlated loss distributions, are becoming increasingly important for assessing the risks of extreme events. This volume demonstrates innovative ways for adapting catastrophe models to aid risk management policy processes via a number of wide ranging applications. These are grouped into three parts, according to whether they inform local or regional risk management policy (Part I); the management of country-wide catastrophe risk and its implication on development (Part II); and the participatory design of a national insurance program (Part III). After discussion of the rational for the proposed approaches, which integrate across multiple disciplines and take into account the diverse values and preferences of stakeholders, this chapter introduces Part I of the volume, including cases on the management of flash flood risk in Vienna, Austria, an earthquake insurance program for the Tuscany region in Italy, balancing stakeholder concerns in establishing flood risk management strategies in northern Vietnam, and the choice of appropriate discounting factors in the design of infrastructures under consideration of catastrophe risk
Insurance as a Response to Loss and Damage?
Full text linkThis chapter asks whether insurance instruments, especially micro-insurance and regional insurance pools, can serve as a risk-reducing and equitable compensatory response to climate-attributed losses and damages from climate extremes occurring in developing countries, and consequently if insurance instruments can serve the preventative and curative targets of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM). The discussion emphasises the substantial benefits of both micro-insurance programs and regional insurance pools, and at the same time details their significant costs. Beyond costs and benefits, a main message is that if no significant intervention is undertaken in their design and implementation, market-based insurance mechanisms will likely fall short of fully meeting WIM aspirations of loss reduction and equitable compensation. Interventions can include subsidies and other types of support that make insurance affordable to poor clients; interventions can also enable public-private arrangements that genuinely catalyse risk reduction and adaptation. Many such interventions are already in place, and the chapter highlights two potential success stories for insurance instruments serving the most vulnerable: the African R4 micro-insurance program and the African Risk Capacity (ARC) regional insurance pool. While support to these and other insurance programs continues to be framed as humanitarian aid based on the principle of solidarity, discussions on the G7 initiative to insure vulnerable households, as well as on ARC’s initiative to link international payments to climate risks, raise the question whether the narrative will evolve from solidarity to responsibility based on the principle of developed country accountability
Catastrophe models and policy processes: Managing flood risk in the Hungarian Tisza River Basin - An introduction
No full textIn this chapter we provide an introduction to this section of six chapters, which examine how catastrophe models can contribute insights to multi-stakeholder policy processes by focusing on flood risk management in the Hungarian reach of the Upper Tisza river. The flood problem in this vulnerable region remains today acute mainly because of increasing flood risk due primarily to land use and perhaps also to climate change, as well as to a management regime in flux. A recent popular movement to change the management regime from the traditional river defense paradigm (RDP) to a more environmentally oriented working landscape paradigm (WLP) has been stalled. This stalled regime shift highlights the critical importance of reaching consensus, not only on flood measures that promote the sustainable development of the region, but also on the distribution of the losses from floods. The papers in this section focus on the latter by demonstrating how catastrophe models can aid a participatory process aimed to design a flood insurance and public compensation system. In addition, the papers address flood risk in the region, and how it will be impacted by climate change, as well as the vulnerability of the Tisza basin residents
Modeling risk and uncertainty: Managing flash flood risk in Vienna
No full textIn this chapter, different concepts of risk and uncertainty are applied to the analysis and management of the risk of flooding along the Vienna River in Vienna, Austria. The methodology illustrates how, by the use of catastrophe models, it is possible to extend traditional engineering-based approaches to flood risk management to integrate loss spreading techniques (such as the purchase of flood insurance or the maintenance of a catastrophe fund) with traditional loss-reduction techniques (such as the construction of levees, floodwalls, or detention basins) and to give a full account of uncertainty. The results show that the greatest risk from flash flooding is to the Vienna city subway system, and suggest that combining available measures in an overall mitigation strategy results in decreasing total costs and reducing the likelihood and uncertainties of catastrophic financial loss
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