Risk Management for Natural Disasters. WIFO Economist Franz Sinabell at OECD High Level Risk Forum in Paris

Franz Sinabell

03.10.2019

Risk Management for Natural Disasters

WIFO Economist Franz Sinabell at OECD High Level Risk Forum in Paris

The OECD High Level Risk Forum in Paris discussed how to improve assessments of disaster risk reduction management projects. On 18 September 2019, WIFO economist Franz Sinabell reported on new approaches to the evaluation of public investment projects.

In his presentation, he showed that improved cost-benefit assessments had been developed towards the end of the 20th century. In the scientific literature there is already ample evidence on assessing value of ecosystem services.

In the practical implementation of the evaluation of investment projects, however, there is little evidence that environmental impacts are taken into account. An example are the Netherlands: cost-benefit analyses are carried out at national level, even if only local projects are evaluated in order to make possible added benefits visible. In Austria, on the other hand, such assessments are only carried out at project level.

At the OECD Forum "Assessing and measuring environmental impacts of DRR projects" contributions were discussed from the perspective of various scientific disciplines. Participants from North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia also included government representatives.