Climate and Disaster Risks, Resilience and Sustainability Challenges in Asian Cities

Eight of the top ten countries listed in The World Risk Report of 2016 are from the Asia-Pacific Region. Vanuatu, Tonga and the Philippines top the list for global hotspots for high disaster (i.e., impacts of climate change and related-disasters). Other countries located in the so-called ring of fire, Japan (ranked 17^th) and Australia (ranked 121^st), however, do not score badly as the other Asia-Pacific countries (Solomon Islands, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Solomon Island).

This paper argues that the policy and program investments made towards climate and disaster resilience by the low-risk countries in the region spell the difference in reducing their exposure and vulnerability to disaster. More specifically, it also argues that these strategic policy and program investments made by advanced countries like Japan and Australia have been largely shaped by the science-based planning and investment policy framework of these countries. Focusing on the Philippines and contrasting it with her Southeast Asian neighbours such Cambodia (ranked 9^th) ) and Thailand (ranked 53^rd), this paper examines the progress of these countries in achieving SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and the investments they have made towards science-based planning for environmental security, resilience and sustainability. Finally, it will explore opportunities for accelerating the progress towards achieving this goal.