Risk Awareness, Capital Markets and Catastrophic Risks
The OECD contributes to the improvement of the financial management of major catastrophes both through the activities of the International Network on the Financial Management of Large-Scale Catastrophes and through the leadership of its High-Level Advisory Board. This publication compiles a series of reports reflecting the OECD’s extensive work in this field over recent years. These reports include: 1) a stocktaking of initiatives to promote natural hazard awareness and disaster risk reduction education, resulting in the publication of a policy handbook; 2) a review of and recommendations on catastrophe-linked securities and the role of capital markets in supporting the financial mitigation of large-scale risks, aimed at governments promoting these instruments; 3) a review of current mechanisms used to quantify catastrophe losses within the OECD; and 4) a review of hazard risk mapping efforts in South East Asian countries.
Conclusion and Next Steps
The Role of Risk Awareness and Risk Reduction Education in Building a Culture of Safety
Human decisions about where and how to live can lay the foundation for a society resilient to catastrophes. Public awareness of natural hazard risk and risk reduction measures forms the foundation and pre-requisite for effective natural catastrophic risk management and disaster risk reduction. In this vein, the Advisory Board of the International Network on the Financial Management of Large-Scale Catastrophes, set up by the OECD, has notably agreed that risk awareness initiatives constitute one of the key components of appropriate and sustainable financial management of large-scale catastrophes. This current stocktaking effort, in combination with OECD studies on financial education, builds upon national and international efforts to increase risk awareness and risk reduction education as a tool for catastrophic loss reduction.