Overview

Bridging climate adaptation policy and community-level humanitarian practice, this casebook evaluates Korea’s Support Project for Climate-Vulnerable Groups and Areas as a proactive, preventive adaptation model against intensifying climate hazards—including extreme heatwaves, cold spells, heavy snowfall, and torrential rainfall. Addressing the rapid warming trends across Asia and the compound climate risks confronting the Korean Peninsula, the report connects scientific analysis, public investment, and local governance to transition from reactive disaster recovery to proactive risk reduction within actual living environments. Utilizing a multi-tiered cooperation framework involving the central government (policy direction and financial support), expert institutions (scientific analysis, consulting, and evaluation), local governments (site selection, design, construction, and maintenance), and local communities (demand assessment, maintenance, and feedback), the initiative establishes a systematic approach to strengthening long-term community resilience that provides practical insights for adaptation programming across East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Key Findings

The assessment highlights that climate risks are disproportionately concentrated among vulnerable populations—including older adults, infants, pregnant women, persons with chronic illnesses or disabilities, low-income households, outdoor and migrant workers, farmers, and residents of substandard housing—who face high cooling and heating costs, limited information access, mobility constraints, and poor housing conditions that restrict self-protection. To address these vulnerabilities, the project establishes a four-stage implementation process: planning (climate risk and vulnerable group assessment), design (resident consent and tailored material selection), construction and management (quality, safety, and completion oversight), and post-evaluation (measuring temperature reductions, energy use shifts, and user satisfaction). On-the-ground interventions are classified into seven distinct project types: cool roof and cool wall coatings, rural energy-independent worker shelters, fixed outdoor public worker shelters, mobile outdoor public worker shelters, ice-prone area improvements (snow-melting systems and remote control), climate response shelters, and district-level green zones (incorporating building greening, community gardens, nature-based solutions, and low-impact development). Furthermore, the findings emphasize geographic tailoring rather than uniform deployment: dense urban districts combine cool coatings, shelters, and green zones to alleviate heat islands and cooling poverty; rural areas require renewable-powered shelters, mobile services, and health linkages for agricultural laborers; and mountainous or steep-slope communities require automated snow-melting, safety signage, and remote monitoring to prevent pedestrian accidents and winter isolation.

Implications

To maximize sustainability and enable regional adaptation, interventions must combine institutionalized post-installation operation and maintenance (O&M) protocols with localized humanitarian implementation models. Long-term efficacy depends on dedicated O&M plans, including periodic recoating and cleaning for thermal surfaces, designated facility managers and operating manuals for fixed and mobile shelters, safety and hygiene standards for outdoor cooling systems, and sustained horticultural care for green infrastructure. Rather than serving as a rigid template, the Korean model provides an adaptable solution package suitable for calibration to the distinct administrative capacities, infrastructure levels, and disaster risk profiles of individual countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Within this architecture, National Societies can serve as crucial policy partners and direct implementers in underserved rural, mountainous, and isolated areas. By mobilizing grassroots volunteer networks to identify vulnerable households, guide shelter utilization, conduct facility inspections, and collect user feedback, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement can bridge everyday living-space climate adaptation with emergency disaster relief, driving sustainable and integrated community resilience.

Overview

Bridging atmospheric science and operational humanitarian action, this study evaluates future climate outlooks and national policy frameworks across four Pacific Island countries: Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. Utilizing a decision-oriented analytical framework, the research connects projected climate signals (temperature, precipitation, extreme events) with national commitments—including NDCs, NAPs, LEDS, and National Communications—and translates them into actionable Red Cross programming. The objective is to identify operational gaps and align national policy priorities with community-level preparedness, early warning, WASH, health, shelter, livelihoods, and disaster risk management, establishing a practical roadmap for localized climate resilience.

Key Findings

The assessment highlights a universal warming trend as the primary climate signal, with annual mean temperatures projected to rise by +2.8°C to +3.0°C under high-emissions scenarios (SSP5-8.5) alongside increased extreme heat and warmer nights. While rainfall projections display higher uncertainty across the region, heavy precipitation events continue to drive severe operational risks, including flooding, landslides, water contamination, and shelter damage. Vulnerability manifests through distinct national contexts: Fiji faces compound risks in informal settlements and relocation-sensitive areas; Samoa requires village-centered water and coastal resilience; Tonga demands integrated climate-DRM frameworks (JNAP 2) and outer-island logistics; and Vanuatu requires multi-hazard, communications-resilient access for remote communities. Furthermore, a key operational limitation exists in current climate data, as monthly and country-aggregated models fail to provide the daily variables (such as heatwave duration, warm nights, and max 1-day/5-day rainfall) needed to establish precise anticipatory action triggers.

Implications

To bridge policy commitments and community resilience, humanitarian actors must shift toward flexible, multi-hazard preparedness and data-driven anticipatory action. Red Cross programming must mainstream heat-health protocols, strengthen last-mile early warning systems, and position WASH and shelter as core climate-resilient infrastructure. Interventions must prioritize locally led execution by integrating with existing village disaster management structures and ensuring inclusive outreach for vulnerable groups, including women, youth, persons with disabilities, and outer-island populations. Additionally, collecting community-level loss and damage evidence will strengthen recovery planning and advocacy, while advancing climate analysis using daily and near-ocean data will enable the creation of operational thresholds required for timely, pre-disaster interventions.

Overview

Following the macro-scale physical assessment of Phase 1, this Phase 2 study bridges atmospheric science and human reality by examining how residents in Dhaka, Bangladesh actually perceive and experience fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Conducted across eight distinct focus groups (four-by-two matrix, 51 participants total) in urban Kamrangirchar and suburban Keraniganj, the research utilizes a combined qualitative and quantitative approach to map community cognition. The objective is to identify cognitive gaps and communication barriers that prevent public awareness from translating into effective, self-protective action, thereby providing a practical roadmap for community-level policy engagement.

Key Findings

The study reveals a stark mismatch between visual perception and actual toxicity: residents share an accurate, symptom-linked mental model anchored heavily on visible "dust", which systematically crowds out awareness of the more harmful, invisible combustion particles. This single-source bias results in three critical cognitive absences: the separation of household emissions (cooking, waste) from health symptoms, a lack of causal connection between preventive behaviors and chronic risk, and near-zero literacy regarding national clean air policies. Furthermore, vulnerability compounds along demographic lines; suburban youth (ages 11–35) and low-income homemakers exhibit the highest levels of risk due to systemic exclusion from real-time data, policy information, and protective resources.

Implications

The findings underscore that the primary barrier to urban resilience in Dhaka is not a deficit of bare awareness, but a profound gap in data, connectivity, and material means. To turn community perception into protective action, policy interventions must shift from generalized awareness campaigns to a coordinated, sequenced package. This response must prioritize establishing reference-grade ground monitoring in unmeasured suburban areas, expanding the existing "dust" schema to broader emission sources, and distributing affordable protective infrastructure (such as PM2.5-grade masks and filtration). Finally, risk communication must be tailored to the distinct linguistic registers of different demographic cells to prevent critical health messages from being lost.

Overview

Bangladesh, particularly the capital city of Dhaka, is experiencing one of the most severe air pollution challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. Chronic exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) poses significant risks to public health, livelihoods, and urban resilience. Unlike sudden-onset disasters, air pollution represents a slow-onset, pervasive hazard that affects communities on a daily basis.

In response to this challenge, the Asia-Pacific Disaster Resilience Centre (APDRC), in collaboration with the Korea University Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, conducted a Phase 1 research study to analyze PM2.5 in Dhaka from a disaster risk and resilience perspective.

Key Findings

The study found that PM2.5 concentrations in Dhaka have shown a persistent upward trend between 2016 and 2024, reaching the highest levels among major Asia-Pacific cities. Annual average concentrations exceed both national air quality standards and international health guidelines by a wide margin.

Seasonal and diurnal patterns indicate higher pollution levels during winter months and nighttime hours, suggesting the influence of specific emission sources. Analysis further revealed that household-level biomass fuel use and informal waste burning are among the dominant contributors, rather than industrial emissions alone.

Implications

The research highlights air pollution as a chronic disaster risk that requires a shift from reactive response to preventive and resilience-oriented approaches. While Bangladesh has established legal frameworks and national air quality plans, limited monitoring coverage and gaps between policy and implementation remain key challenges.

The findings underscore the importance of community-level interventions, improved risk communication, and institutional support to protect vulnerable populations and enhance urban resilience.

Overview

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, frequently affected by typhoons, floods, and other climate-related hazards. In response to the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013, the country has significantly improved its disaster preparedness and response systems.

Post-Haiyan Enhancements

Following the catastrophic impact of Haiyan, which resulted in over 6,000 deaths and massive infrastructure damage, the Philippine government and its partners implemented sweeping reforms to strengthen early warning systems, emergency coordination mechanisms, and community-based preparedness programs. These efforts have contributed to faster response times and more effective evacuation and relief operations in subsequent typhoons.

Key Initiatives Include:

• Improved forecasting and real-time warning dissemination

• Community education and evacuation planning

• Inter-agency disaster response coordination

• Strategic prepositioning of supplies and logistics

Reference Video
▶ Typhoon Haiyan: FAO’s Emergency Response and Rehabilitation Programme
Watch Here

Impact
The Haiyan experience has served as a turning point in the Philippines' disaster resilience, and lessons learned continue to shape national and local strategies for climate-related emergency response.

Located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City is a leading example of urban innovation designed to withstand natural disasters such as earthquakes. The city strengthens public safety and urban resilience with integrated energy management systems and a comprehensive disaster response framework.

?? Video Highlight:
Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City: Making smart use of local energy sources to build the communities of the future ? by Hitachi

▶ Watch Here

▶ Watch Here

A true model for sustainable and disaster-resilient urban planning.

Disaster description

Cyclone Gabrielle: New Zealand declares national state of emergency

In February 2023, New Zealand declared a national state of emergency in response to Cyclone Gabrielle, one of the most devastating tropical cyclones to ever hit the country. This video highlights the cyclone’s severe impact on the North Island, including massive flooding, landslides, and power outages. It also showcases the government’s rapid response and emergency management efforts during this climate-related disaster.

Disaster Description

New Zealand's approach to Disaster Risk Reduction

NZ’s uses magnitude eight earthquake simulation to prepare for natural disasters

New Zealand is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, frequently exposed to earthquakes due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire. In response, the government has developed a nationwide disaster response system that includes public education, emergency drills, and advanced simulation exercises. The videos linked below show how New Zealand promotes disaster risk reduction and prepares for major earthquakes through large-scale simulations and community engagement.

Disaster description

UNDP Weathering the storm (Part 1) - Cambodia Climate Change Alliance

This UNDP video, “Weathering the Storm”, showcases Cambodia’s response to climate change through flood adaptation efforts. It focuses on how vulnerable communities are building resilience using local knowledge, sustainable practices, and support from the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance. The video highlights real stories of farmers and families affected by floods, and the innovative strategies they are using to protect their livelihoods.