• Energy Research

The private sector for long has been looked upon as a funding source to cushion the disaster and climate change damages and losses. In recent times, there is a more proactive approach with the private sector increasingly engaging in activities to promote Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a part of their business strategies. Despite significant strides being made by the private sector in this regard, the strategies that are good for the business, environment, and sustainability are yet to take off at a large-scale. Many private organizations are still facing the challenge of identifying the right target sector and stakeholders for fulfilling their sustainability requirements. However, the greatest strength of the private sector is its ability to innovate. As part of this innovative design, the concept of thematic incubation for corporate sustainability is explored. The products and services developed through these thematic incubators are envisaged to result in the achievement of global development agendas and promotion of sustainability performance for multiple stakeholders including government, academia, private sector, and the community at large. This concept allows a win-win situation with the culmination of long-lasting social and environmental goals along-with achieving profit-with-purpose. The paper identifies the concept of sustainability with respect to the interest of the stakeholders, as well as its alignment with that of sustainable development and disaster risk reduction. The paper presents an exploratory case of the thematic incubation for disaster risk reduction, climate change, and sustainable development as a possible approach to corporate sustainability. The paper details the process of thematic incubation along with possible challenges and advantages of the same. In all, thematic incubation has been identified as a lynchpin to ensure the effective utilization of resources and setting in motion a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, use of science, and sustainability at the local level.

The devastating impact of flooding is gradually increasing worldwide including riverine islands of Bangladesh due to climate change issue. Riverine islands and coastal communities are the primary victims due to their geographical position. The riverine islands (char) of Bangladesh are frequently flooded, necessitating context-specific flood management policies and actions that require an in-depth investigation of household vulnerability level. Therefore, this study assesses the vulnerability level of riverine island dwellers to flooding. Data were collected from 384 household heads living in geographically isolated char areas. A context-specific composite flood vulnerability index was developed under the IPCC framework. The results reveal that all households are vulnerable to flooding and are poorly able to cope with its adverse effect. Households living near the mainland have a somewhat more adaptive capacity than distant households. Flood vulnerability is mainly determined by char households' flood perception, damage, and access to food, water and health resources during flooding. Riverbank erosion, recurrent floods, a lack of employment, and limited access to essential public services were also identified as the primary socio-economic and natural causes of flood vulnerability. To decrease the livelihood risk and promote char dwellers’ resilience, a char-based policy plan with both a short- and a long-term focus is required.

AbstractScientists predict ongoing global climate change to trigger adverse events affecting about 143 million people in the Global South by 2050, leading to various forms of migration and mobility. While existing literature extensively examines climate-induced migration, there is a lack of studies considering the compounding impacts of multiple climate hazards on migration, mobility, and immobility. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review to explore how climate-induced stressors, specifically rising temperatures, water stress and droughts, and floods and sea-level rise, have affected populations in the Global South, leading to voluntary and/or forced migration. Our findings show that these stressors have displaced and profoundly impacted millions of people, resulting in both internal and transboundary migration. Climate-induced stressors often trigger migration through indirect pathways influenced by multiple intervening institutional, political, and socio-economic factors and programmatic and policy gaps. Effectively addressing challenges related to climate-induced migration necessitates adaptation strategies that adequately consider the impacts of these intervening factors while recognizing their differential effects on various socio-demographic groups. We argue that support from Global North countries, including compensation for loss and damage, along with continued institutional and financial support from international non-governmental organizations, is crucial for managing climate-induced migration in the Global South. Without proper planning and adequate resources, migration may escalate and significantly impact human security. The findings of this study can inform climate migration policies and assist adaptation and migration experts in identifying intervention mechanisms and opportunities for people-centered climate solutions.

The world’s urban population is expected to nearly double by 2050, making urbanization one of the most disruptive developments of the 21st century. On a global-to-local scale, ensuring a secure and reliable supply of food energy and water (FEW) resources for all humans is a major challenge in such a scenario. While much attention has recently been focused on the concept of FEW security and the interactions between the three sectors, there is no universally acceptable framing of the concept due to the fact that latest studies are mainly focused on individual FEW sectors, with not much investigation into how they interact. This research aims to create a localized framework based on the principles of the emerging concept of the Circulating Ecological Sphere (CES), introduced by the government of Japan, for a limited number of security indicators and dimensions. It began with a thorough study of the relevant literature using the PRISMA method, identification of gaps in local indicators for urban areas in each of the existing frameworks, and the proposal of a new indicator framework that tackles collective FEW security in urban environments is made accordingly. The authors have applied a special mechanism for filtration of this literature dataset in the context of Nagpur City in accordance with data availability and case study context. To test the applicability of the indicator set, it has been applied to the specific case of Nagpur. Both online and offline surveys were conducted to collect data, and subsequently a weighted mean method was adopted to analyze the data and derive values for the indicator set.

With growing concern about risks related to energy security around the world, the development of hydrogen cooperation between India and Japan has become very important to ensure the economic security of the two countries and to deepen economic cooperation. This report covers both public and private initiatives in the hydrogen area in both countries and visualizes the high potential and potential areas where both countries could cooperate in the hydrogen area, as well as the challenges that are necessary for cooperation. The following four factors are strong incentives for India and Japan to deepen cooperation in the hydrogen field: (1) India has a high potential hydrogen supply capacity, (2) India is very active in implementing hydrogen in society, (3) Japan is already conducting R&D in areas of high interest to India and (4) Japan will need to import hydrogen from other countries in the future. The issues of (1) cost visualization, including transportation costs, (2) harmonization of regulations, (3) harmonization of promotion measures between the two countries, (4) definition of “green hydrogen,” and (5) protection of intellectual property are main challenges to be overcome. Thus, disclosures of necessary data for cost visualization of hydrogen transportation, further inter-governmental cooperations between India and Japan, and facilitation of the discussions on hydrogen among various stakes are key actions for materializing various joint hydrogen projects between both countries.

This paper addresses open data, open governance, and disruptive/emerging technologies from the perspectives of disaster risk reduction (DRR). With an in-depth literature review of open governance, the paper identifies five principles for open data adopted in the disaster risk reduction field: (1) open by default, (2) accessible, licensed and documented, (3) co-created, (4) locally owned, and (5) communicated in ways that meet the needs of diverse users. The paper also analyzes the evolution of emerging technologies and their application in Japan. The four-phased evolution in the disaster risk reduction is mentioned as DRR 1.0 (Isewan typhoon, 1959), DRR 2.0 (the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, 1995), DRR 3.0 (the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: GEJE, 2011) and DRR 4.0 (post GEJE). After the GEJE of 2011, different initiatives have emerged in open data, as well as collaboration/partnership with tech firms for emerging technologies in DRR. This paper analyzes the lessons from the July 2021 landslide in Atami, and draws some lessons based on the above-mentioned five principles. Some of the key lessons for open data movement include characterizing open and usable data, local governance systems, co-creating to co-delivering solutions, data democratization, and interpreting de-segregated data with community engagement. These lessons are useful for outside Japan in terms of data licensing, adaptive governance, stakeholder usage, and community engagement. However, as governance systems are rooted in local decision-making and cultural contexts, some of these lessons need to be customized based on the local conditions. Open governance is still an evolving culture in many countries, and open data is considered as an important tool for that. While there is a trend to develop open data for geo-spatial information, it emerged from the discussion in the paper that it is important to have customized open data for people, wellbeing, health care, and for keeping the balance of data privacy. The evolution of emerging technologies and their usage is proceeding at a higher speed than ever, while the governance system employed to support and use emerging technologies needs time to change and adapt. Therefore, it is very important to properly synchronize and customize open data, open governance and emerging/disruptive technologies for their effective use in disaster risk reduction.

‘Machizukuri’ is translated by most commentators as ‘place or city making’ and mainly refers to the direct participation of citizens into urban planning and construction. The present paper discusses the concept and evolution of machizukuri from a social movement to ‘soft-infrastructure’ at city level, focused on serving community needs in post-disaster settings. The 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Kobe is chosen as the main case study, in order to review the role and process of machizukuri in disaster management in the context of urban renewal. This is followed by a discussion on the possibility of replicating this model in other contexts and the challenges which machizukuri and similar bottom-up groups are faced with in ensuring their sustainability. The paper argues that the culture and personal engagement of the citizens, and the commitment of national and local governments to cooperate with civil society groups, are essential in this process. Finally, the study suggests that the utilization of this concept has proved that there are undeniable benefits in engaging civil society in decision-making processes and initiatives, with the ultimate aim to create communities capable of overcoming the catastrophic consequences of disasters.

Recent catastrophic floods in Viet Nam have been increasingly linked to land use and forest cover change in the uplands. Despite the doubts that many scientists have expressed on such nexus, this common view prompted both positive forest protection/reforestation programs and often-unwarranted blame on upland communities for their forest management practices. This study discusses the disparity between public perceptions and scientific evidences relating the causes of catastrophic floods. The former was drawn on the results of a questionnaire and focus groups discussions with key informants of different mountainous communities, whereas the latter was based on GIS and remote sensing analysis of land cover change, including a statistical analysis of hydro-meteorological data of the Huong river basin in Viet Nam. Results indicate that there is a gap between the common beliefs and the actual relationship between the forest cover change and catastrophic floods. Undeniably, the studied areas showed significant changes in land cover over the period 1989-2008, yet, 71% of the variance of catastrophic flood level in the downstream areas appeared related to variance in rainfall. Evidences from this study showed that the overall increasing trends of catastrophic flooding in the Huong river basin was mainly due to climate variability and to the development of main roads and dyke infrastructures in the lowlands. Forest management policies and programs, shaped on the common assumption that forest degradation in the upland is the main cause of catastrophic flood in the downstream areas, should be reassessed to avoid unnecessary strain on upland people.