KOICA Research Quarterly Update(Q2 2025) → READ MORE
[Publications]
ㆍDeveloping Living Lab-based Solutions for the Complex Disaster of the Jakarta-Semarang Coastal City Belt in the Era of Climate Crisisㅣ Tae-Hyoung Tommy Gim, Hyun Woo Kim, Yunmi Park, Jeongseok Choi, Jiwon Lee
Climate change has significantly increased disasters related to disease, heat, and water management, exacerbating the risk of complex disasters where these interact. Traditional studies focused on single disasters are insufficient to effectively address these multifaceted threats. Therefore, a more integrated, triangulated approach is needed. This study systematically examines community-level response strategies to complex disasters in Indonesian coastal cities that are directly affected by, and highly vulnerable to, climate change. This study confirms that complex disasters are the result of interactions between different disaster factors, and that single-disaster solutions are insufficient for an effective response. To address this challenge, a scientific AI-based approach was used to identify high-risk disaster areas. A living lab framework based on local partnerships was used to diagnose specific problems and develop targeted solutions. By integrating AI-driven analysis and Living Lab methodologies, this study provides a comprehensive approach to analyzing structural vulnerabilities in coastal cities and the interrelationships of complex disaster-prone areas, providing both academic and practical contributions. In addition, by proposing a guideline for international development cooperation, this study contributes to strengthening the resilience of coastal urban communities in the face of climate change, while introducing a new paradigm for complex disaster response strategies.
ㆍ Water Disaster Management in Response to Climate Change, Glacier Loss, and Onset of the Climate Crisis l Climate and Economic Development Team, KOICA
The loss of glaciers due to global warming is intensifying the climate crisis on all fronts, causing a dramatic increase in natural disasters. There are even forecasts that 80% of the Alpine glaciers, which are reportedly vanishing at an unprecedented rate, could be gone by the year 2100 if current trends continue. (…) Glacier loss leads to rising sea levels. Since 1993, global sea levels have risen by an average of 3.4 mm per year, with a total increase of 10.3 cm over the past three decades. Rising sea levels trigger changes in the climate system, leading to extreme weather patterns, ecological changes, coastal erosion, floods, and landslides, and can have significant impacts on low-lying areas and island nations. The increase in water vapor and changes in ocean density caused by rising ocean temperatures alter the direction and strength of ocean currents, which in turn affect precipitation. This interacts with the monsoon front and typhoons, significantly increasing precipitation and triggering extreme weather events such as floods and landslides. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has emphasized that issuing warnings 24 hours in advance can reduce damage by 30%. According to WMO data, the number of natural disasters worldwide increased fivefold from 711 in the 1970s to 3,536 in the 2000s. However, with the introduction and implementation of early warning systems, the number of deaths in the 2010s dropped significantly to one-third of the levels recorded in the 1970s and 1980s.
ㆍ Discussion on Development Effectiveness ― Global Challenges and Pathways to Collaboration l ODA Center for Research and Education, KOICA
Development effectiveness is a concept that has evolved to address a range of issues related to development assistance since the late 1990s, primarily with the goal of improving the quality of development assistance and promoting practical development in recipient countries. The idea was driven by criticisms of the inefficiency and duplication of international development assistance, and that aid from developed countries reinforces dependency rather than helping developing countries become self-reliant. The adoption of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) emphasized the need for ODA (Official Development Assistance) to be effective not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality, and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness endorsed at the 2nd High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF) marked a major turning point in the global debate on development effectiveness. The 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness put an emphasis on comprehensive cooperation with various development cooperation actors and expanded the scope beyond aid effectiveness to development effectiveness. However, the discussions on development effectiveness have made little progress since then, and some criticize the concept as premodern. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to examine how the meaning of development effectiveness has been evolving leading-up to the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025.
