Accelerating Climate and Disaster Resilience and Low-Carbon Development through the COVID-19 Recovery

Technical Note

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• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9789292624330
• eBook ISBN:
  9789292624347
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Strategy
• Index: Business

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a major global crisis requiring national, regional, and global intervention. The scale of the crisis and the associated size of the response mean that decisions governments make now will influence systems, create assets, and define development directions well into the future. The Asian Development Bank has developed this technical note to help its developing member countries accelerate climate and disaster resilience and low-carbon development through the design of COVID-19 recovery interventions. It proposes an assessment framework that decision-makers can use to select and prioritize a package of recovery interventions that will collectively achieve recovery, climate, and resilience objectives.

APPENDIX: Climate- and Disaster-Resilient and Low-Carbon Recovery Interventions

The relevant interventions proposed in the literature reviewed in this technical note were grouped into those that primarily address climate and disaster resilience, and those that are focused on low-carbon development, while recognizing that some interventions have the potential to achieve both. The potential recovery interventions were classified as:

• direct investment, e.g., in low-carbon or resilient infrastructure;

• policy and regulatory reform, e.g., tax reform, regulatory standards; or

• transformational change, i.e., deeper, more fundamental shifts to existing systems.

Countries also need to raise finance, e.g., develop new financial instruments and structures, and undertake capacity building and institutional strengthening to support long-term change and a sustainable recovery. Potential options for doing this are presented here after the recovery interventions.

Some interventions could be targeted to respond specifically to the health crisis and exposed vulnerabilities, whereas others are more general and may not be new, but have high relevance to the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) recovery.

A. Climate and Disaster Resilience

Direct Investment	Investment in hard (engineered) resilience infrastructure (e.g., coastal protection) as part of a stimulus package (e.g., to create jobs, local investment)
	Investment in nature-based solutions (e.g., ecosystem-based flood protection, green spaces, landscape restoration, watershed protection) to create jobs, etc.
	Climate and disaster proofing of all infrastructure investment (adaptation) funded under recovery or stimulus packages
	Reorientation of public works programs to support adaptation and resilience (e.g., irrigation, reforestation)
	Investment in early warning systems (improving current, developing new systems) to build greater resilience in general (for health surveillance, but also for other types of civil emergency)
	Investment in research and development (R&D), pilot, and demonstration projects for climate-and disaster-resilient goods and services (such as new drought- and flood-resistant crops), to reduce future shocks Investment in building the capacity and knowledge of female farmers through women-focused investments
	Investment in sustainable urban infrastructure and services (e.g., water, sanitation, and hygiene, or WASH, and solid waste projects, to enhance health and disaster and climate resilience in urban areas, including informal settlements)
	Investment in rural support scheme spending, particularly with sustainable agriculture, to provide rural stimulus and more robust logistics and supply chains
	Community-targeted approaches that engage women, including adaptive safety nets (e.g., shock-responsive contingency funds and cash transfers), as part of social protection
	Development of skills development programs, including re-skilling and up-skilling of male and female workers (and especially youth) in technical and vocational education to match green and resilient investments and increase women’s participation in nontraditional sectors
	Investment in rural enterprise finance and rural microfinance programs
	Investment in new information technology infrastructure to increase resilience and continued work, under crisis management and emergency response plans

Policy and Regulatory Reform	Inclusion of resilience factors (e.g., climate and disaster risk considerations) in road standards to ensure the resilience of stimulus investments
	Integration of climate and disaster risks into prudential and capital market regulations
	Introduction of financial incentive schemes (e.g., for resilient investment) to support immediate recovery and sustain benefits over the longer term
	Introduction of policy reform to enhance resilience (e.g., payment for ecosystem service schemes) and promote a sustainable recovery
	Active labor market policies and economic stimulus to strengthen job creation in resilience sectors
	Flexible and responsive labor market policies that are adaptive in times of crisis, formulated as a collaborative effort by government, the private sector, civil society organizations, and social partners

Transformational Change	Reform of government, governance, planning and policy (e.g., toward more social justice and a citizen-led transformation)
	Urban green transformation
	Transformation of rural food and land-use systems, including shift to sustainable, localized, and resilient production, and assistance in building the resilience and robustness of value and supply chains
	Rethinking of land-use development patterns, especially in highly-at-risk areas, toward resilient cities that can weather future shocks and stresses
	Well-being national accounting (e.g., away from gross domestic product)

Capacity Building/Institutional Strengthening	Support for the developing member countries (DMCs) in developing resilience investment pipelines for the recovery packages
	Capacity building and policy support to incorporate priorities reflected in national...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Table and Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Executive Summary
• I. Introduction
• II. Issues
• III. Opportunities for a Low-Carbon and Resilient Recovery
• Appendix: Climate- and Disaster-Resilient and Low-Carbon Recovery Interventions
• References
• Footnotes
• Back Cover