ADRC Highlights
Asian Disaster Reduction Center Monthly News
● Announcement
Vol. 378
September2024
TOPICSAnnouncement¶ ACDR2024 to be Heldin Vietnam in November2024

ACDR2024 to be Held in Viet Nam in November 2024
Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), in cooperation with the Cabinet Officeof Japan and the Viet Nam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority (VDDMA),
will hold the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2024 (ACDR2024) at theHanoi Club Hotel in Hanoi on 12-13 November 2024.
The theme of ACDR2024 is “Proactive Solutions and Anticipatory Actions forSustainable Resilience to the Climate Crisis.” The conference will be held in ahybrid format.
Please register to attend in person or online at the following website.

¶ Partner Event atAPMCDRR 2024
Promoting Cooperation
with AffiliatedInstitutions¶ Outcomes of the 3rd
Webinar Series on Climate
Change Projection¶ Participation in the“Joint Development ofCitizen Empowerment
Program for Disaster Risk
Reduction in Asia” Project

ACDR2024: https://acdr.adrc.asia/
Partner Event at APMCDRR 2024

Asian Disaster
Reduction Center
Higashikan 5F, 1-5-2
Wakinohamakaigan-dori,Chuo-ku, Kobe
651-0073 Japan
Tel: 078-262-5540
Fax: 078-262-5546
editor@adrc.asia
https://www.adrc.asia

ADRC will co-organise a partner event at the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference
on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) 2024 on 17 October 2024, entitled“Urban Resilience of Metropolises: Incorporation of Multi-Sectoral Spatial Risk
Assessment in City Planning for Investing in Resilient Metropolises, andAugmenting Local Solutions to Disaster Risk Reduction/ Build Back Better withSpace Satellite Services” with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),
Sentinel Asia, and other stakeholders.
There is an urgent need to address the root causes of increasing urban disasters
by identifying better ways to incorporate disaster risk reduction into urban planningand infrastructure planning processes. Further, to respond effectively to unexpectedscales of disaster, it is important to have rapid access to geographical informationand to disseminate risk information.
This panel discussion will serve as a platform for various practitioners andexperts to share experiences and best practices in addressing the above needs.
We look forward to the participation of APMCDRR participants in this event.
For more information, please visit the website below.
<ADRC’s Partner Event at APMCDRR 2024>
https://bit.ly/APMCDRR2024-PE20241017© ADRC 2024

1ADRC Highlights

Vol. 378● Promoting Cooperation with Affiliated Institutions
Outcomes of the 3rd Webinar Series on Climate Change Projection
According to Dr Hak Mao (Director, Department of Climate Change) and Mr Sem Savuth (Vice Chief,Climate Change Information Management, Department of Climate Change), 44% of all communes inCambodia are vulnerable to the increasing frequency and intensity of flood, drought, and storm due toclimate change. By 2050, when sea-level rise is projected to reach 1,302mm, about 242km2 of coastal areas
in Cambodia will be inundated, resulting to an estimated economic loss of USD304 million. If thegovernment does not offer additional action to combat the impacts of climate change, the planned GDP for2050 will be 10% lower.
When this information was presented at the 3rd Webinar series on Climate Change Projection for Disaster
Risk Reduction in Asia-Pacific Region on 19 August 2024, panelists and participants were interested toknow about climate change countermeasures as well as the challenges in Cambodia. In response, Dr Mao andMr Savuth said that like other countries in the region, Cambodia enacted policies and regulations to adapt toclimate change and mitigate its impacts. Some of the climate change countermeasures are aimed at: i)increasing the current 62% usage of renewable energy to 70% by 2030; ii) ensuring that 70% of motorcycles
and 40% of cars are EVs by 2050; and iii) planting of one million trees annually until 2050 to achieve 60%
forest cover. The main challenge, however, is that these are broad actions that don’t project specific impacts
caused by climate-related disasters, such as extreme flood or storm. In order to do this, downscaled climate
data is essential. Currently, historical climate data in Cambodia is sparse. This problem is compounded bylimited tools and technologies within the government to measure the impacts or to make accurate projectionsof climate change.

Presentation by Mr Sem Savuth of the Department of Climate Change, Cambodia

In view of these concerns, other panelists introduced some of the initiatives and tools for climate change
projection that may complement the ongoing climate actions in Cambodia. Prof. MORI Nobuhito (ResearchDivision of Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Disasters, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, KyotoUniversity) introduced the SENTAN Program, and the potential collaboration with Cambodia, for assessing
the effects of extreme water-related events and analysing the changes of hazards with rising global surface
temperature as downscaled to countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Dr NAKAEGAWA Toshiyuki (Head ofSecond Laboratory, Department of Applied Meteorology Research, Meteorological Research Institute ofJapan Meteorological Agency) introduced tools using high-resolution models and supercomputers to projecta future climate at the local level. Dr MURATA Akihiko (Head of First Laboratory, Department of Applied
Meteorology Research, Meteorological Research Institute of Japan Meteorological Agency) introduced tools
and methods for dynamical downscaling to simulate localised climate change. Mr MORI Noriyuki (DeputyDirector, International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management) introduced a comprehensive
platform on water resilience and disasters that includes data-integration for hazard, damage, andsocioeconomic factors. On this platform, various agencies provide their respective climate data for
integration in order to effectively forecast the impacts and provide early warning to communities-at-risk.
In his closing remarks, Prof. TACHIKAWA Yasuto (Hydrology and Water Resources Research2ADRC Highlights

Vol. 378

ContinuedLaboratory, Kyoto University) emphasised the potential contributions of SENTAN Program (e.g., tools,technologies, and datasets) to climate change countermeasures that countries in Asia-Pacific region areundertaking. He hoped that the webinar will foster greater collaboration between SENTAN Program andCambodia.
Participation in the “Joint Development of Citizen Empowerment Program for Disaster Risk
Reduction in Asia” ProjectAs part of the “Joint Development of Citizen Empowerment Program for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia”
project, conducted by the Kansai University of International Studies (KUIS) with funding from the Toyota
Foundation, the ADRC team participated in a community-based disaster management drill utilising ICT inYogyakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, 7 September 2024. ADRC served as a supporting organisation for theimplementation of the project.
The drill targeted the Jogoyudan community along the Code River in Yogyakarta City, which isvulnerable to disasters such as flooding and cold lava flows from volcanic ash. KUIS and the local
University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta (UAJY) coordinated with the provincial/municipal disastermanagement agency (BPBD) and the community. Students from KUIS and UAJY actively participated in
the drill activities. Although the short preparation time limited sufficient coordination efforts, each party
cooperated in the evacuation drills and devised activities such as supporting and evacuating the injured,pregnant women and physically disabled persons.
It was conducted using the community disaster information sharing system (geoBingAn + WhatsAppsystem) launched by the ADRC in the ASEAN project in Malaysia last year (See ADRC Highlights Vol. 368and 370). By registering via WhatsApp, which people use every day, the system enables simultaneous
broadcasting to the registrant's WhatsApp and collection of information in the form of text, photos andvideos from registrants via WhatsApp. It is an easy-to-use system that enables two-way informationexchange on WhatsApp.
In addition to information sharing via radio, which BPBD normally uses, information was uploaded by
the participants through WhatsApp as needed. BPBD and the community members found the system throughWhatsApp to be a very convenient and user-friendly platform for information sharing, as they were alreadyfamiliar with using WhatsApp. Even after the drill, BPBD asked some questions about future collaborationand expressed interest in continuing to use this system.
As noted above, due to the limited preparation, the local government officials were not able to fully
utilise the system during the drill. The results of the ICT-utilised drill were reported at the international
workshop “Asian Conference on Civil Disaster Reduction and Response (ACDRI)” under the Toyota-funded
project. The ICT-utilised disaster risk reduction event will be continued in the next activity with universities
in Malaysia.

Community evacuation drill utilised WhatsApp-based ICT tool for effective information communication3