The Triple Dividend of Resilience—A New Narrative for Disaster Risk Management and Development

To secure development gains and help eradicate poverty in the long run, it is critical to strengthen ex-ante disaster risk management (DRM) measures that build resilience at the household, firm and macro level. Decision-makers however often view DRM investments as a gamble that pays off only in the event of a disaster. This is despite increasing evidence that building resilience yields significant and tangible benefits, even if a disaster does not happen for many years. This chapter outlines the Triple Dividend of Resilience as a new analytical method to enhance the business case for investments in building resilience. The three benefits that are outlined are: (1) avoiding losses when disasters strike; (2) unlocking development potential by stimulating economic activity thanks to reduced disaster-related investment risks; and (3) social, environmental and economic co-benefits associated with investments. The second and third dividends in particular are typically overlooked in appraisals around investment decisions, and can accrue even in the absence of disaster events. Presenting evidence of additional dividends to policy-makers and investors can provide a stronger case for investment in DRM, helping to reconcile short- and long-term objectives. This chapter sets the conceptual basis for the more detailed assessments of the resilience streams and implications for decision-makers provided in the following chapters.