Coastal cities are under severe threat from the impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise, extreme weather events, coastal inundation, and ecosystem degradation. It is well known that the ocean, and in particular coastal environments, have been changing at an unprecedented rate, which poses increasing risks to people in small island developing states, such as Fiji. The Greater Suva Urban Area, the capital and largest metropolitan area of Fiji, is expected to be largely impacted by climate-related risks to its socio-economic, cultural, and political positions. In the face of these threats, creating a resilient city that can withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change and promote sustainable development should be guided by a holistic approach, encompassing stakeholders from the government, the private sector, civil society organizations, and international institutions. This study assesses the risk profile of Suva city using an innovative risk information tool, the climate and ocean risk vulnerability index (CORVI), which applies structured expert judgment to quantify climate-related risks in data-sparse environments. Through comparative quantification of diverse risk factors and narrative analysis, this study identifies three priority areas for Suva’s future climate-resilient actions: development of climate risk-informed urban planning, harmonized urban development and natural restoration, and enhancing the climate resilience to the tourism sector. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11027-022-10043-4.

Several small island developing states (SIDS) in the Pacific managed to avoid the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing measures to ensure national isolation. Primarily due to being ordered to leave by their respective organizations, e.g., overseas development administration (ODA) in the developed world, many highly skilled migrant workers left these countries. This sudden exodus of highly skilled foreigners created a number of problems in these countries; for example, schools suffered from teacher staffing shortages and hospitals had reduced capacity to offer medical services due to the paucity of nurses and doctors. This study aims to examine the situations in the Federated State of Micronesia (FSM), Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), where many foreign workers have left their duty stations to return home under COVID-19, to elicit lessons learned and possible ways and means to alleviate the observed problems. To this end, literature surveys and interviews were conducted with informants. Results indicated that developing and maintaining a remote work environment is a promising method to fill the gaps caused by the sudden absence of foreign workers in management posts, even under non-emergency situation. This is because in the case that highly skilled migrant workers are forced to vacate their duty stations suddenly, immediately hiring replacements is often not possible. Promoting distance education also proved effective for COVID-19-free nations such as the FSM, Palau, and the RMI, not only during emergencies, but also during normal times. Similarly, the daily use of telemedicine is likely to be effective in coping with emergencies, as shown in the case of FSM’s Pohnpei State Hospital. We found both distance education and telemedicine to be effective measures to address the sudden departure of highly skilled migrant workers in the fields of education and medical services. Moreover, other forms of remote work should prove useful in other sectors such as industry and administration. These systems should be progressively developed during non-emergency times and integrated into the daily operations of relevant sectors.

No abstract

Japan is highly prone to multiple natural hazards, such as typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis in general. However, the compound disaster that entailed earthquake, tsunami, and a nuclear crisis, along with disruption of the global supply chain triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, highlighted the need for a holistic risk assessment of impacts amplified by multiple disasters. According to the Cabinet Office of Japan, the occurrence probability of a Nankai Trough Earthquake and Tsunami is 70% within the next 30 years. It suggests the need for comprehensive impact assessment to enhance the disaster risk reduction strategies of the region. This study conducts a tsunami impact assessment using quantitative analysis to identify vulnerable industries in Mie Prefecture, Japan, famous for tourism, valueadded sectors of aquaculture, food processing, and petroleum refining tanks situated in at-risk areas. To create a tsunami shock scenario, we apply a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model using an input-output table of the Mie Prefecture (2015 version) and geographic information system (GIS). The street-level business entity data enable us to incorporate with the disaster scenario to provide evidence-based damage estimates of capital and labor loss due to a tsunami. We present the simulation results of output change, price change, external trade, and welfare analysis and propose creating a vulnerability index (VI) for disaster impact. These quantified and visualized indicators would provide informative implications for ex-ante policymaking and risk financing to cope with fragile sectors effectively.

No abstract