When thinking about sustainable development as it relates to natural disasters, it helps to break the topic down into manageable pieces: 

Sustainability and Disaster Response 
Applying Sustainable Technologies during Disaster Recovery
Disaster Mitigation Using Sustainable Technologies
Climate Change, Natural Disasters, and Insurance

Sustainability and Disaster Response 

Sustainable technologies – primarily renewable energy systems – can play an important role during the critical days following a disaster. Photovoltaic (PV) systems that tap solar energy to generate electricity provided emergency power during the aftermaths of a number of disasters including Hurricanes Marilyn, Andrew, and Hugo and the Northridge Earthquake. 

Solar power is ideal for some emergency applications because the systems are portable and self-sufficient. They eliminate worry about the availability of fuel supplies, and they operate silently and without fumes. Homes and businesses can also install PV systems to supply a portion of their electricity needs during normal times and provide back-up power during emergencies. 

Operation Fresh Start is an initiative designed to help individuals and communities incorporate sustainable principles and technologies into their plans when they recover from a flood, earthquake, or other disaster. Sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Operation Fresh Start is a gateway to information from a variety of federal agencies that deal with disaster recovery. 

The Wingspread Principles were developed by attendees of the Wingspread '98 conference, "Communities in Harm's Way: A Leadership Dialogue on Designing Disaster-Resistant Settlements," to help communities and government agencies enhance sustainability in disaster-prone communities. The principles include a checklist for disaster mitigation and a policy action framework. A July 1998 Progress Report details the direct outcomes of the Wingspread '98 conference.

The U.S. Department of Energy report, Nature’s Power on Demand: Renewable Energy Systems as Emergency Power Sources, provides further information on the potential of renewable energy as a disaster response tool. It discusses specific emergency uses for PV power and elaborates on how permanent systems can enhance the reliability of the electricity grid. 

The Florida Solar Energy Center offers a range of photovoltaic support strategies for disaster relief, recovery and mitigation. They also provide numerous publications (as PDF files) on the topic of Photovoltaics for Disaster Relief.

Besides supplying electricity for lighting and emergency refrigeration needs, PV power can also be used to purify water. The need for clean water is often acute following a natural disaster because conventional water treatment and delivery systems are commonly disrupted. UV Waterworks, developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is a highly efficient water purification system that requires only a 40-watt fluorescent bulb to deliver up to four gallons of potable water per minute. It relies on ultraviolet radiation to kill viruses and bacteria in the water. 

Applying Sustainable Technologies during Disaster Recovery  

Whether recovery means putting damaged homes and communities back together or building new ones, the process creates numerous opportunities for incorporating sustainable technologies. Energy efficiency and passive solar technologies can be incorporated into new or renovated buildings; the site design for new communities and neighborhoods can take into account the natural topography, provide for solar access, and accommodate efficient modes of transportation; new infrastructure can possibly include local renewable resources and innovative wastewater treatment technologies. 

Surviving Disaster with Renewable Energy, a website from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, outlines NREL's role in emergency preparedness and response, disaster mitigation and relief, and sustainable development.

Ohio's "Smart Recovery" program encourages communities recovering from floods to approach redevelopment in ways that will mitigate future damage. The program, a partnership between local, state, and federal agencies, encourages local government agencies to adopt strong building codes and land-use-management principles that will reduce the damage caused by future disasters. For more information, contact: 

Nancy Dragani 
Chief of Public Information 
Ohio Emergency Management Agency 
2855 West Dublin-Granville Road 
Columbus, OH 43235-2712 
(614) 799-3695

This section’s case studies area provides more real-life examples of how to team sustainable technologies with disaster recovery. Other main sections of this overall Web site – Green Buildings, Land Use Planning, Transportation – provide a wealth of information on the many tools available in each specific topic area. 

Other resources specifically geared to disaster recovery include Rebuilding for the Future and Rebuilding Your Flooded Home, both U.S. Department of Energy publications. 

Holistic Disaster Recovery: Ideas for Building Local Sustainability after a Natural Disaster is a handbook that describes ways in which a local community can incorporate various aspects of a sustainable society (e.g., environmental quality, economic vitality, social equity, etc.) into all the decisions it must make during the recovery period following a disaster. Produced by the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center .

Disaster Mitigation Using Sustainable Technologies 

Communities are discovering the wisdom of taking steps before disasters occur to avoid, or at least lessen, the impact of future natural events. This component of disaster management holds great promise for achieving lasting results because it enables disaster-prone communities to become active drivers toward change, rather than passive victims of nature. Disaster or no disaster, progress made toward sustainability through mitigation efforts will provide far-reaching benefits. 

A number of groups are working to help communities with their disaster mitigation efforts. The International City/County Management Association offers a range of information on how municipalities can deal with disasters. In addition, their Natural Resources program includes projects such as environmental risk assessment, climate change mitigation, and protecting water and air quality. 

The Institute for Business & Home Safety is an initiative of the insurance industry to reduce damage, losses and injuries caused by natural disasters. The Institute helps model and promote building codes and standards, and has a project on how Community Land Use Planning can reduce natural disaster losses.

The Florida Department of Community Affairs’ Bureau of Recovery and Mitigation is actively exploring various mitigation strategies with local communities. One option they’re considering is offering financial incentives to homeowners who agree to take steps to make their dwellings more storm-proof. The Department published The Local Mitigation Strategy. The Department hopes that various pieces of the strategy will be voluntarily implemented at the local level.  

The North Carolina Department of Emergency Management offers information on its site Hazard Mitigation in North Carolina. This site presents forms, documents, faq's, a training calendar, links, a site map, mitigation research, gis workshops for mitigation planning, lists of grants, flood hazard determinations for your home, and more.

The Extension Disaster Education Network links Extension educators from across the U.S. and various disciplines -- so they can use and share resources to reduce the impact of disasters. Resources include governmental process and community development information.

The 1998 Wingspread Conference, "Communities in Harm's Way: A Leadership Dialogue on Designing Disaster-Resistant Settlements," drew together federal, state and local officials, and national design experts to recommend how disaster-prone communities can become more sustainable--that is, more disaster-resistant with healthier economies, environments, and quality of life.  A set of Wingspread Principles emerged from this gathering to help disaster-prone communities and government agencies enhance sustainability.  The principles also include a sustainability recovery checklist, a policy action framework, and a Wingspread action plan. 

Climate Change, Natural Disasters, and the Insurance Connection 

Evidence continues to mount in favor of the claim that human activity is contributing to global warming, and that global warming, in turn, is responsible for some of the extreme weather the world has experienced in recent years. Thomas Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center, labeled global warming as the cause of severe winter flooding in the Western states. Climate change has also been blamed for other severe weather events, including droughts, storms and flooding across the globe. 

Additional information about global warming can be found on the website of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Global Warming website offers a Climate Change and Insurance Listserv with news and information regarding the effects of sea level rise and other weather-related impacts on the insurance industry.

Increasingly, the insurance industry is taking an interest in global climate change as a possible contributor to the dramatic rise in costly natural disasters. Industry leaders share with advocates of sustainable development a desire to mitigate weather-related damages and make communities stronger. Insurance and The Natural Sciences: Partners in the Public Interest, a speech presented in September 1996 by Franklin W. Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America, further explains this "insurance connection." 

To learn yet more, read "Storm Warnings: Climate Change Hits the Insurance Industry," a comprehensive article published by Christopher Flavin in the November/December 1994 issue of World Watch magazine, and "Climate Change and Storm Damage: The Insurance Costs Keep Rising," Mr. Flavin’s follow-up article that appeared in World Watch’s January/February 1997 issue. 

The Institute for Business & Home Safety is an initiative of the insurance industry to reduce damage, losses and injuries caused by natural disasters. The Institute helps model and promote building codes and standards.

Climate Change & The Financial Services Industry is a study released by the UNEP Finance Initiatives Climate Change Working Group, available online as a PDF file.

For further information on the relationship between the insurance industry, disaster reduction, and sustainable development, see Insurance Loss Prevention and Risk Management through Sustainable Energy Technologies and Practices, an initiative ponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Protection Division as well as private insurers. The initiative website, hosted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, includes a white paper titled Energy Efficiency: No-Regrets Climate Change Insurance for the Insurance Industry.

Last updated: January 31, 2005

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