ENABLE

Description

The IPCC calls for new research to enhance understanding of the conditions under which countries can adopt more ambitious policy measures in these areas. This project delves into one of these conditions and tests the assumption that natural disasters enable ambitious policy measures, which are not feasible under 'normal' circumstances. The premise is based on the observation that policy measures generally evolve slowly but can undergo periods of dramatic change, which are believed to occur in the aftermath of disasters. However, this assumption is contested within the research community; some argue that disasters remove barriers to significant policy measures, while others believe disasters tend to preserve and reinforce existing measures. These conflicting expectations have not been tested in more extensive studies, and the knowledge largely relies on studies of individual or a few countries. Therefore, there is a lack of robust empirical knowledge about the potential effects of natural disasters on countries' policy measures for climate-resilient development.

The project's aim is to investigate if and under what conditions extreme natural hazard events facilitate policy measures for climate-resilient development in countries worldwide. This addresses several urgent research questions. How common is it for disasters to lead to climate-resilient development in countries around the world? Do disasters change countries' priorities regarding these measures, particularly concerning the balance between emission reduction, climate adaptation, and sustainable development actions? Why do some disasters lead to policy measures while others do not, especially in more vulnerable societies?

Answering these questions requires a broad approach based on different research fields and methods, necessitating active collaboration across disciplines. The project thus brings together researchers from various disciplines and combines different analytical methods and theoretical perspectives. Data on countries' policy work is integrated with data on more than 10,000 disaster events and analyzed to map effects globally and in a selection of low-income countries. Using computational linguistic methods, a set of policy documents is coded for a detailed mapping of countries' actions, which cannot be achieved with existing data. Finally, case studies are conducted in a selection of countries to identify circumstances that enable and limit policy measures in the aftermath of disasters.

The project's results will provide new insights into countries' abilities to use disaster events as an opportunity to accelerate work on the global goals. This is crucial both for contributing new knowledge to research on what enables policy measures after disasters and for providing a basis for global sustainability efforts.