Yasusuke Tsukagoshi
Special Representative, Japan, World Bank Group

Mr. Yasusuke Tsukagoshi became Special Representative, Japan on August 1, 2013. The Special Representative leads the institutional relationship with the Japanese Government, partners, and stakeholders; oversees the World Bank Tokyo Office; and has responsibility for coordinating and managing outreach and communications programs in Japan. Mr. Tsukagoshi, a Japanese national, has had a long career in Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF). Most recently, he served as Director General of Tokyo Customs following senior positions in the Ministry’s Customs and Tariff Bureau. Prior to the Customs’ positions, he had 17 years of experience in international finance and development. From 2008 to 2011 Mr. Tsukagoshi was Executive Director at the Inter-American Development Bank, representing Croatia, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom, and from 1988 to 1991 he served as Executive Director at the African Development Bank, representing Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.

Toshio Koike
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo / Director, International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management

Dr. Toshio Koike serves as Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, as well as Director, International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM). He also works as Lead Scientist, CEOP projects of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP); Co-Chair of the Architecture and Data Committee of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); and Chair of/Advisor to river management related committees under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). As hydrological and climate expert, Dr. Koike leads a number of national and international initiatives such as Asian Water Cycle Initiative (AWCI) with Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), and Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS). He has made breakthroughs on the water and climate disaster management through water cycle and climate science researches and their applications to water resources management, which can be classified into: establishment of satellite remote sensing, development of the data integration and information fusion system, and development of the hydrological down-scaling methods including satellite-based data assimilation. Some of the prominent awards he has recently won include: Group Achievement Award from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Awards for International Contribution and Academic Contribution Awards from Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources. Dr. Koike holds Bachelor, Master and Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

Jolanta Kryspin-Watson
Lead Disaster Risk Management Specialist and Regional Coordinator, East Asia and the Pacific, World Bank

Ms. Jolanta Kryspin-Watson is Lead Disaster Risk Management Specialist and Regional DRM Coordinator for East Asia and the Pacific at the World Bank. She has about 18 years of experience working on advancing disaster risk reduction around the world, including in Turkey, Albania, Croatia, Romania, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Algeria. She has led large scale reconstruction and disaster mitigation investment projects, analytical work and knowledge exchange initiatives in areas of: seismic retrofitting, emergency preparedness, climate adaptation, disaster risk financing and insurance, community-driven DRM, catastrophe risk assessment, flood protection, weather forecasting and early warning, and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. Jolanta holds Master degrees in Public Administration (MPA) from the State University of New York in Albany, and Business Administration (MBA) from University of Warsaw, Poland.

Le Quang Tuan
Deputy Head in charge of Science Technology and International Cooperation Division, Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Directorate of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Vietnam

Dr. Le Quang Tuan is Deputy Head in charge of the Science and International Division, Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (DNDPC), cum National Office for Natural Disaster Protection and Control. The DNDPC is an organization under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, a state management agency that implements the Law on Natural Disaster Management. The DNDPC of Vietnam is also cum the Office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Management of Vietnam. Dr. Tuan has strong background in Water resources engineering and management. He has nearly 20 years worked with science field and international cooperation on river basin management, dam safety, water sanitation and drought fighting. He holds Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of California, U.S.A.

Denis Jordy
Senior Environmental Specialist, East Asia and Pacific, World Bank

Mr. Denis Jordy is Senior Environmental Specialist with more than 18 years of experience in environment, water management, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. Since January 2013, he is based at the World Bank Office in Sydney where he coordinates the Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation portfolio in the Pacific Region. He joined the World Bank in 2004 and has been working on a wide range of projects and knowledge products related to urban flood risk reduction, coastal zone management, climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, post disaster needs assessments, environmental management and pollution control. He was previously based in Washington D.C., U.S.A. and Dakar, Senegal, and has a multi-region experience in Africa, Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, France and U.S.A.

Kenichiro Tachi
Director for International Coordination of River Engineering, River Planning Division, Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan

As Director for International Coordination of River Engineering of the Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Mr. Tachi is responsible for international affairs on water and river management including water-related disaster risk reduction. He is also responsible for technical assistance to foreign countries. Mr. Tachi joined the Ministry of Construction (former MLIT) in 1998 after taking the Master Degree of Civil Engineering in Tokyo Institute of Technology. He has dedicated himself to water and river management for more than fifteen years, by utilizing knowledge and experience in the field of civil engineering. During his career, he has been engaged in researching, planning, designing, implementing river management works. During 2011-2013, Mr. Tachi was responsible for integrated river basin management of a class-A river, Hii River Basin in Japan, as the head of MLIT’s river work office.

James Newman
Disaster Risk Management Specialist, Disaster Risk Management Hub, Tokyo, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, World Bank

Since joining the World Bank in 2013, Mr. James Newman has led Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)’s overall work planning, and served as focal point for urban resilience and regional portfolios in South Asia and East Asia Pacific. He contributed to the development of the World Bank’s CityStrength Diagnostic and Medellin Collaboration on Urban Resilience. He has supported World Bank projects and technical assistance, including post-disaster assessments, in India, Nepal, South Africa, and Vietnam. Prior to GFDRR, he worked for the City of Baltimore, contributing to the city’s 10-Year Financial Plan, risk management, CitiStat performance management, and open data, and served as acting deputy procurement agent. He has also covered Latin American and Caribbean finance and insurance for a Chilean market intelligence firm. Studying economics and public policy, Mr. Newman has a Master’s from Georgetown and Universidad Alberto Hurtado in Santiago, Chile and undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis. As an adjunct professor, he has taught urban management, public policy, and statistics at University of Baltimore’s Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) program.

(Listed in the order of presentation)

❖ Overview

❖ Our Activities

Knowledge Sharing on Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management: Lessons from Japan

In just the last decade, water-related hazards caused approximately 60% of total economic losses, according to the international emergency events database EM-DAT, and global reinsurer Swiss Re pointed to flooding as among the biggest hazards to urban dwellers around the world in its “Mind the Gap” report. These are particularly salient facts for the East Asia and Pacific region.

The World Bank Disaster Risk Management Hub, Tokyo in conjunction with the World Bank Tokyo Office, organized the public seminar on “Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management: Obstacles and Opportunities in East Asia-Pacific and Lessons from Japan” to bring together perspectives of experts and practitioners in East Asia and the Pacific on how to take on the serious challenge of urban flooding in the region.

The public seminar complemented the “Technical Deep Dive on Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management” – a four-day learning and knowledge exchange in Tokyo bringing officials from eight developing countries and World Bank project teams together with key experts from Japanese authorities, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The event supported developing country clients to better understand how Japan fundamentally rethought flood risk at the beginning of the 20th century and has continued to invest, operate, and evolve to manage and reduce flood risk thoughtfully and systematically – and apply these lessons to their own investments.

Factors Driving Disaster Risk

The risks developing countries face is growing, as climate change and urbanization put more urban residents in the way of floods.

“Warming of the climate change is unequivocal. In the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC, the global warming was the highest ever recorded. There is a need for an end-to-end approach on climate adaptation.” said Toshio Koike, Professor at the University of Tokyo and Director, International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM). He noted the need for improved water storage, forecasting models, and a variety of flood adaptation measures, including early warning systems and risk-informed land use planning. “The important thing is risk communication – prepare meaningful and useful information then share with community to seek participation.”

In many countries, increasing urbanization is also exacerbating the exposure of the urban poor to disasters. Dr. Koike cited research suggesting that properly designed risk-reducing infrastructure, such as embankments and levees, can actually help manage disaster risk, while increasing economic activity and reducing inequality.
 

How to Make Japan’s Experience Applicable

The challenges that Japan has taken on are still daunting in much of the region.

In Vietnam, there is a need for an integrated framework for flood risk management in urban areas, as well as better coordination among stakeholders, technical expertise, and community participation. Vietnam aims to take away lessons on investing in multi-purpose retarding ponds and super levees for low-lying areas of newly urbanizing areas, among other measures proven in Japan.

In the Solomon Islands, the flash floods of 2014 killed 22 people, as thousands were displaced. The country faces intense rainfall, highly dynamic river channels, and limited capacity for land use planning, minimal hydrological data and lack of institutional coordination. The World Bank team working on disaster resilience in the Pacific found key lessons in Japan’s approach to functional regulation and enforcement mechanisms to manage the design and location of infrastructure and housing, and aims to bring these lessons to other countries in the region, including Fiji and Samoa.
 

Key Takeaways for Participants

Participants in the Technical Deep Dive and in the Public Seminar pointed to the need for key elements modeled in Japan’s integrated urban flood risk management approach:

• Institutional and legal – importance of clearly defined structures and responsibilities
• Inter-agency coordination and information/data flow, operational procedures; system approach
• Integration of structural and non-structural measures
• Land-use planning – multi-purpose usage of flood risk management infrastructure
• Public and private stakeholder engagement
• Technical excellence – engineering solutions and training
• Attention to operation and maintenance
• Consideration of multiple hazards
• Continuous improvement/upgrading based on the current knowledge and predictions

❖ Overview

❖ Speakers