Page - 303 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

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.