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1. Quantitative Analysis of Optimal Investment Scale and Timing for Flood Control Measures by Multi-Regional Economic Growth Model: Case Studies in Viet Nam

Author:
Hiroaki Ishiwata, Masashi Sakamoto, Makoto Ikeda, and Venkatachalam Anbumozhi
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
This study aims to develop and utilise a multi-regional economic growth model that can take into account flood damage and investment in disaster risk reduction, and, through case studies in Viet Nam, quantitatively analyse the long-term effects of investment in disaster risk reduction on the national and local economy, as well as the optimal scale and timing of investments in flood protection, to gain a better overview of these factors. The results indicate that additional investment in disaster risk reduction could stimulate economic growth, and that the optimal range of the disaster risk reduction budget rate was around 0.3% to 0.5% of GDP, assuming a constant budget rate throughout the total 25-year calculation period. In the case of a variable disaster risk reduction budget rate, we observed that a variable budget rate that gradually reduces the disaster risk reduction budget rate from a higher level than the current rate could further promote economic growth than if the budget rate were fixed. In both cases, we verified that with excessive investment in disaster risk reduction, the high tax burden had the risk of reducing investment in production capital and lead to stagnating economic growth. By region, the long-term effects of investment in disaster risk reduction were most seen in the Central region, where the rate of flood damage is the highest.
Topic:
Economic Growth, Investment, Flood, and De-Risking
Political Geography:
Asia, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia

2. China’s Floods and Party Priorities

Author:
Arran Hope
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
China Brief
Institution:
The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:
Typhoon Doksuri (杜苏芮) crashed onto the Chinese mainland over Fujian Province on Friday, July 28. From there it pushed northward, where a constellation of meteorological factors led it to slow down over North China, where it unleashed huge volumes of rain over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Over 1600 weather stations in Hebei Province, which surrounds Beijing, recorded rainfall in excess of 250 mm across a 72 hour period, with one station in Xingtai City recording a maximum of over 1003 mm. Beijing saw the highest rainfall since its meteorological records began in 1860 (Xinhua, August 9). The storm was the proximate cause for severe flooding. Already by Tuesday, August 1, state media was reporting that 20 people had been killed in the floods, and 127,000 had already been evacuated from the capital (Global Times, August 1). However, the full-scale of the human impact is unlikely to be clarified by the government any time soon: much information about the floods has already been censored or deleted from China’s internet, and official statistics, when they have been released, are almost certainly underplaying the costs. [1] Perhaps most unhelpfully, the website for China’s Ministry of Water Resources, has been inaccessible all week (水利部, Ministry of Water Resources). Nevertheless, drawing on the information that has been forthcoming from China’s central and regional governments, as well as firsthand accounts posting on Chinese social media and Twitter (X), we can make a preliminary assessment of the potential political and economic consequences of this event.
Topic:
Natural Disasters, Crisis Management, and Flood
Political Geography:
China and Asia

3. Gendered Dimensions of Loss and Damage in Asia

Author:
Nidhi Tewari, Alex Bush, Myrah Butt, Elizabeth Stevens, and Sarah Zafar
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Setting up a fund for loss and damage is one of the achievements of COP28, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference. However, ambiguity remains regarding its functions and set-up. This briefing paper emphasizes the importance of understanding the gendered dimensions of both economic and non-economic losses and damages in Asia. It draws from case studies in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines and Timor-Leste to advocate for an intersectional feminist approach to be embedded in the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund.
Topic:
Climate Change, Feminism, Intersectionality, Flood, Loss and Damage (L&D), Conference of the Parties (COP), and Care work
Political Geography:
Asia