Urban and Water Thematic Group and Social & Environment Thematic Group (hybrid) event
The Urban and Water Thematic Group is happy to announce a new event co-sponsored with the Social and Environment Thematic Group. A few months ago, our Talk Shop Series started a conversation on Preparing Cities For Weather Extremes with a well attended session on cities and heat waves. This new session will focus on the issue of floods. As this announcement is written, a year’s worth of rain unleashed (in less than 12 hours) immense flooding in Dubai typically known for its hot and dry climate. Floods have become common headlines and this presentation is therefore very timely.
Synopsis:
Causing impacts that range from mere nuisance to major damages and loss of life, flooding is the most widespread and frequent disaster and one of the costliest. Damages from flooding are also increasing, driven in part by climate change but also urbanization patterns that increase communities’ exposure. This presentation summarizes recent operational research from the Urban and DRM global practice and explores both the drivers of impacts from urban flooding and the consequences of a subset of policy interventions. The presentation starts by taking stock of the global trends of urban exposure to floods before delving into the differentiated vulnerability of households and the role of networks in propagating local shocks. Finally, the presentation explores the impacts of various flood management options in cities leveraging urban economic modelling.
Speakers bios:
- Jun Rentschler is a Senior Economist at the World Bank, working at the intersection of climate change and sustainable resilient development. Prior to joining The World Bank in 2012, he served as an Economic Adviser at the German Foreign Ministry. He also spent two years at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) working on private sector investment projects in resource efficiency and climate change. Before that he worked on projects with Grameen Microfinance Bank in Bangladesh and the Partners for Financial Stability Program by USAID in Poland. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, following previous affiliations with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. Jun holds a PhD in Economics from University College London (UCL), specializing in development, climate, and energy.
- Paolo Avner is a Senior Economist at the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), where he co-leads the Disaster Risk Analytics and Resilient Infrastructure thematic areas. His current work in GFDRR focuses on the links between urban form, land uses, transport systems, labor markets and vulnerability to natural hazards in developing country cities. He has worked on a number of analytical products including Urbanization Reviews and flagship reports and is the author of several policy-oriented research papers. Prior to joining the Bank in 2014, Paolo worked in France as a researcher in LEPII (Grenoble) before joining the Center for International Research in Environment and Development (Paris). Paolo has graduated from La Sorbonne University and from University Paris X – Nanterre as an economist and holds a doctorate from EHESS – École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.
Discussant: Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez (co-Chair of the Social and Environment TG)
Facilitator: Catherine Farvacque-Vitkovic (Urban and Water TG Organizing Committee)
If you plan to attend in person, please RSVP (Room MC 5 – 715).
RSVP Here!
On May 9th, you will be able to join the Webex session directly by using the link provided below, among other available options.
Join Webex session
Join by browser/meeting number:
Meeting number: 2308 959 9837
Password: Society1818
Join by phone:
1-650-479-3207 Call-in number (US/Canada)
Access code: 2308 959 9837
Global call-in numbers
