The Asian Development Bank recently released a working paper that presented the principles underlying Flood and environmental risk management (FERM) and briefly discussed current policies and practices. It also presented three Asian Development Bank case studies from the People’s Republic of China to illustrate what is being advocated. It also discussed other matters relevant to the integration of FERM into a framework for project appraisal and formulation.
FERM is a new concept recognizing the close connection between managing flood risk and managing risks to the physical environment and biological ecosystems.
The concept aims to address the nexus between flood, waste, and biological ecosystems by applying both structural and nonstructural solutions, and taking into consideration urban−rural and upstream− downstream linkages, in development planning and project implementation. This nexus approach assimilates multisector targets, provides more economical and cost-e·cient development goals, and lessens the risk of applied interventions undermining one another. In other words, FERM promotes spatial (local and river-basin scales), functional, and organizational…
