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COPING WITH NATURAL DISASTERS, ECONOMIC SHOCKS

UN urges united stand from Asia-Pacific

Star Business Report
A comprehensive response is needed to fight economic crises and natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region in the era of overlapping shocks, according to a new study of the United Nations released in Bangladesh yesterday.
The Asia-Pacific has been battered in recent years by a relentless series of shocks, said the study -Building Resilience to Natural Disasters and Major Economic Crises.
Some of the shocks have been related to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, droughts or floods. Others, such as the 2008 financial crisis, have been caused by convulsions in global markets, the study said.
"The traditional approach has been to consider such events individually. This is increasingly unrealistic," said Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, regional adviser on disaster risk reduction of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP).
He said governments across the region often find themselves dealing with overlapping shocks that demand a more comprehensive and
systemic approach to building resilience.
The UN official said, for many policymakers this is a new territory
as they are more accustomed to focusing on problems in particular economic or social sectors.
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''Even more difficult, they have to take decisive action now about events that may or may not take place," he said while presenting the study at the auditorium of BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue, a think tank, organised a discussion to mark the launch of the report.
The report ranked Bangladesh as one of the countries that are most at risk for natural disasters and economic crises.
It called for government support to build resilient communities so they can withstand any natural or economic disasters.
The ESCAP report also called upon regional countries to establish coordinated economic management and investment in social protection and inclusive development and cooperation on food security and sustainable resource management.
CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan said there is a whole segment of population who live perpetually a vulnerable life and face disasters in a variety of episodic ways.
"So, it remains to be seen how we, as a society, are willing to do to address the inequity of vulnerability and the inequity of opportunities," he said at the discussion.
The former caretaker government adviser also called for social arrangements and institutions for coping with the problems of various disasters.
"In any disasters, collective responses are very critical. You will only generate collective responses if you design and build collective institutions."
Sobhan also raised questions whether the issue has been internalised into the political discourse and serious debates directed at climate change take place in parliament.
He said it also remains to be seen how many people who are aspiring for power by contesting elections are capable of taking
the issue of climate change forward, and urged to incorporate the issue in the political discourse.
CPD's Distinguished Fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya said the government should improve its capacity so funds really reach the targeted beneficiaries.
He said political crisis has added to the existing natural and economics shocks. As a result, Bangladesh could face problem in the medium-term, which might take five to seven years for the country to return to its earlier position.
Saleemul Huq, senior fellow of London-based International Institute for Environment and Development, called for diverting funds directly to the local governments to mitigate the climate change impacts.
M Asaduzzaman, a former research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said many still believe normal adaptation will be enough to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
"But it will not be. Adaptation to climate change will have to be a completely new set of frameworks for development actions and policy. This is yet to happen."
He said the macroeconomic impacts of major disasters could be devastating without any doubt. "But if resilience is properly built, the adverse impacts can be minimised."
Asaduzzaman also said a substantial amount of money might flow to Bangladesh by 2020 if the country plays its role properly.
"It is likely that such flows, which may be a billion dollar or more a year, will certainly have major macroeconomic implications. Money supply may increase, public expenditures may rise and local economies may have a boost. Are we ready for that?"
The countries will need to put in place institutional, financial and legal infrastructure of international standards which will
be monitored and verified by international bodies, he said.
Osman Faruque, a former education minister, said estimating the cost of wars, aggression, poor governance and corruption is important for any economy apart from natural disasters.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chair of the All Party Group on Climate Change and Environment in parliament, said longterm investment is crucial to tackling climate change.
" One dollar of investment today will save five dollars tomorrow. But if we invest now, it will take 15-20 years to get the results."
The ruling party lawmaker also said Bangladesh has been "tremendously successful" in saving people from disasters. " But what is about the quality of life of those people?"
Ina F Islam, assistant director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development, said Bangladesh is much ahead in the fight against climate change.
"We have potential and platform. We just need to do our work in a more concerted way."
Kazi Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, a former managing director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, said there is serious deficit in governance in addressing climate change, irrespective of parties in power.
He said Cyclone Aila took place in 2009, but nothing has been done to rehabilitate the affected people.
Ahmed also called for regional cooperation in tackling climate change and urged ESCAP to take the role of a mediator.
M Syeduzzaman, a former finance minister, Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, adviser to the BNP chairperson, Prof Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of CPD, and Masyuki Taga, councillor for economic affairs and development at the Japanese embassy in Dhaka, also spoke.