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12 IntegratedDisasterRiskManagementandAdaptation 303
Zoningregulations, and inparticularzoningforconditionaldevelopment, canbe
further refined in‘buildingcodes’ regulations for thedevelopmentandmaintenance
of buildings in risk zones.Building codes aremeant for the adaptation of building
structurestolowertheirvulnerabilitytonaturalhazards.Buildingcodesareanchored
in planning law, which is operationalized in legally binding land use- or zoning
plans. These zoning plans lay out inwhich areas building codeswill be enforced
(for examples of building codes in relation to insurance see Sect. 12.5). Building
codes and zoningmeasures, however, also take quite some time to develop and to
process them through all regulatory bodies. Inmany instances, building codes are
not yet assessedagainst expected increases in risk through, for example, as a result
of climatechange (e.g.Burby2006).
In addition to reducingabuilding’svulnerability tonatural disasters, othermea-
sures at the individual level can contribute to enhancing an individual’s capacity
to copewith natural disaster events. As an illustration, Atreya et al. (2017) show
how individuals in poor communities inTabasco,Mexico, take relatively low-cost
measures to copewith almost yearlyfloodevents, byprotectingbelongings, taking
emergencypreparednessactionsandknowingasafemeetingpoint toevacuate their
familyduringaflood threat.Asdescribed inBox12.4, the implementationof such
measures is found tobepositively related tocommunity-levelpolicies, suchashav-
ingfloodriskmapsavailable tocommunicateabout risk,andcreatingearlywarning
systems and shelters. This shows the important role that communities can play in
preparinghouseholds tocopewithnaturaldisaster impacts.
12.5 Natural Disaster Insuranceand Incentives for Risk
Reduction—CaseStudyGermany
Financial compensation arrangements, like in the form of aid, public insurance,
private insurance, or public-private insurance systems can be designed to provide
financial coverage for residual climate change risks (Botzen 2013). The advantage
ofhavinganadequatefinancialcompensationsysteminplace is that reimbursement
of damage, for example, after a natural disaster, helps people rebuild and limits
negativeeconomicconsequences.
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Title
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Subtitle
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Authors
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 580
- Keywords
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima