Building Urban Resilience
15th Kawasaki International Eco-Business Forum
Kawasaki City, 7 February 2019

Keith Alverson
International Environmental Technology CenterOsaka, Japan

The International
Environmental Technology
Centre s vision is forcountries to implement
sustainable solutions toenvironmental challenges,
with focus on holistic wastemanagement.

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IETC Publications:
Waste Management Outlooks and Thematic Assessments••••

Global Waste Outlook
Regional Waste Outlooks
Mountain and SIDS Outlooks
Mercury Waste Assessment

www.unep.org/publications/
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IETC Publications:
Guidelines and Tools• Guidelines for National Waste
Management Strategies• Guidelines for FrameworkLegislation for Integrated
Waste Management• Compendia ofTechnologies for theRecovery of Materials
from Electronic Waste,
Used Tyres, ...
www.unep.org/publications/www.unep.org/ietc/resources/publications
Email: ietc@unep.org
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IETC: Results
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Number of Governments,
Businesses, Industries, and Civil
Society Organizations Influenced
on waste management

Penang, Malaysia

25
23
21
19
17
15
2013

2014

2015

Governments
Businesses and industries

5

2016

Bagan Ajam wet market
waste composting plant

IETC support to countries around the world
National and/or city level strategy development
Implementation
NEPAL
MONGOLIA

TAIJIKISTANBHUTANPAKISTAN
HONDURAS

JAMAICATHAILANDLEBANON

SAINT LUCIAVIETNAM

BAHRAIN

GHANA

MYANMARUGANDAKENYACAMBODIAMALDIVESURUGUAYTANZANIAPHILIPPINES

INDIA

MAURITIUS

MALAYSIA

Cities and countries are working with IETC to improve Waste Management GovernancePhnom Penh, Cambodia
Phnom Penh Capital Administration developed a
Waste Management Strategy and Action PlanVaranasi, India
Varanasi city developed a holistic waste management
strategy for the city.

Waste characterization in residential andcommercial units

Waste characterization in hotel, institutional andreligious units

International Environmental Technology Centre

Our Vision
UN Environment IETC assists countries to identify and implement sustainable
technological solutions to environmental challenges

9The Plastic Challenge
Global primary plastics waste generation, 1950 - 201510

Priority actions to minimize single-use plastics
1

Improve waste management

2

Promote eco-friendly alternatives to phase out single-use plastics

3

Educate consumers to make environmentally friendly choices

4Enable voluntary reduction strategies

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Ban or introduce levies on the use and sale of single-use plastic items

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1

Improve waste management

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Global trends: types of regulations
National level plastic bag bans and Styrofoam regulations

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Global trends: number of regulations
Estimated number of new regulations on single-use plastics entering into force at thenational and worldwide

Number of regulations

To date > 60 countries haveintroduced regulations on plasticbags and Styrofoam products

Number of regulations on plastic bags, Styrofoam and other plastic utensils entered into force
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Global trends: Impact
Impact of national bans and levies on plastic bags

Main issues of reported no orlittle impact seems to be:i)Lack of enforcementii)

Lack of affordable
alternatives

15Some Definitions (IPCC AR5 WG2)

Vulnerability: The propensity…to be adversely
affected … including sensitivity orsusceptibility … and lack of capacity to …
adapt.
Risk: …results from the interaction ofvulnerability, exposure and hazard.
Adaptation: The process of adjustment to…climate and its effects…adaptation seeks tomoderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial
opportunities.
Resilience: The capacity of social, economicand environmental systems to cope with ahazardous event or trend … maintain theiressential function …while also maintaining thecapacity for adaptation…

Zommers Z. and K. Alverson eds.
Elsevier, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-12-811891-7
KEY FEATURES
 Provides a summary of tools and methods
used in adaptation including recent
innovations
 Includes chapters from a diverse range ofauthors from academic institutions,humanitarian organizations, and the UnitedNations
 Evaluates adaptation options, highlighting
gaps in knowledge where further researchor new tools are needed
AUDIENCE
Scientists working in Climate Change adaptation,
sustainable development, ecosystemmanagement; environmental scientists,environmental managers, urban planners

Urban Resilience
Greenwalt, Raasakka and Alverson (Ch.12)
Traditional geographic ‘vulnerability
impact analysis’ makes little sense.
Most Vulnerable and least vulnerable
Populations may live in the samebuilding! Vulnerability is not mappable.
Development Paradox. Least Developedcountries are considered the ‘mostvulnerable’. Are developed cities theleast vulnerable (compared to, say rural
areas in developing countries)? Whatabout Resilience. Just in USA cancompare New Orleans after Hurricane
Katrina to New York after Sandy toPuerto Rico after Maria – very different
resilience challenges and successes.
Interlinkages with non-climate concerns.
Example: Disaster Waste. Not separable!
(GEF ‘Additionality’ and GCF “ClimateRationale” are dubious concepts)

Ecosystem Based Adaptation

Quantifying Adaptation Success and the importance of co-benefits
Ecosystem Based Adaptation

Alverson, K. “Vulnerability, Impacts, and adaptation to sea level rise: Taking an ecosystem-basedapproach” Oceanography 25(3):231-235, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.101

Conclusions:1) Climate data, scenarios and impact models are insufficient for supporting
adaptation, particularly as they relate to food systems …
2) The adaptation response to date has been limited, fragmented, divorced fromnational planning processes and with limited engagement with local expertise.
3) Adaptation policies and programs are too narrowly focused on explicit responses
to climate change rather than responses to climate variability or broader
development issues.
4) Adaptation finance is insufficient and procedures for accessing it present
challenges for governments …

Recent Disasters in Caribbean

Building Resilience - Disaster Waste Management•

Integrating disaster contingency planning in national and city level waste
management strategies•

Mainstreaming waste management issues within broader disasterpreparedness and response plans•

Projects in Nepal, Philippines, Dominica

Disaster Waste Management Training for the Caribbean
Montego Bay, Jamaica, 9-10 October 2018

in conjunction with the 2nd High Level Forum forCaribbean Ministers Responsible for WasteManagement. Over 25 representatives from 11counties participated in the 2-day training
programme.

2018 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR)
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 3-6 July 2018

Special parallel session on Enhancing
Resilience through Disaster Waste
Management and Building Back Better

IETC’s Tools/guidelines

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Thanks!
to our funders:Japan, Germany, Sweden, Norway
European Commission, GEF …
========================================and our partners:
Osaka City, ISWA, GEC, IGES-CCET …

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Contact or Follow …

Email: keith.alverson@un.org; ietc@un.org
www.unep.org/ietc/ (English)
www.unep.or.jp/japanese/ (Japanese)
Twitter: @alversonkeith; @unep̲ietc
Instagram: keith.alverson; unep̲ietc
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