Many of the most destructive natural disasters have taken place in situations characterized by armed conflict and insecurity: the Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka and Indonesia in 2004, the floods in Pakistan in 2011, the drought in Somalia in 2011 and typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013. Surprisingly little research has systematically explored how armed conflict affects natural disaster management, and how shocks from natural disaster influence conflict dynamics. This dissertation addresses these gaps by providing a qualitative and disaggregated analysis of the micro-dynamics underpinning the relationship between armed conflict, natural disasters and cooperation. It asks: what is the relationship between natural disasters and processes of conflict and cooperation in countries affected by civil conflict? To explore this question, the dissertation offers four essays that explore different facets of this relationship, focusing on the rebel group. Examining collaboration between rebel group and humanitarian actors during disaster relief efforts in the Philippines, essay I finds that rebel group behavior after a natural disaster is shaped by the level of hostility between combatant parties and the nature of the ties with the local population. Exploring the effect of natural disasters on conflict dynamics in the case of the Philippines, essay II suggests that natural disasters hinder rebel group recruitment tactics, by increasing hardship for rebel combatants and supporters, by weakening the rebel group’s organizational structure and supply lines, and by leading to a loss of territorial control. Based on a comparative case study between Colombia and the Philippines, essay III revisits ripeness theory and argues that the level of rebel group cohesion will help to predict whether or not rebel groups stay at the negotiation table until an agreement is reached. While a typhoon affected the Philippines during the negotiations, it did not “ripen” the peace talks. Finally, article IV explores pre-disaster evacuation across conflict-affected regions in the Philippines and India, and argues that both experience of previous disaster and the level of trust in government officials influence the likelihood of people evacuating. The dissertation has important implications for both disaster management and conflict resolution, and it calls for more dialogue between both disciplines.

The main objective of this thesis is to present a detailed analysis of the currently achieved level of common interconnection between adaptation measures to climate change and disaster risk reduction approach in selected documents. The analysis was based on a group of predetermined keywords. The theoretical basis for this research is the concept o environmental security. According to the selected theoretical concepts the thesis identifies current obstacles of the synergy of both types of measures, and offers suggestions and solutions to overcome them. Results of the analysis showed an insufficient level of interconnection between measures, especially in the internationally binding agreements. They define only the widest context of their implementation and, moreover, do not work with the aspect of building and sustaining environmental security at all. Nationally binding documents on the contrary show a detailed mutual interconnection of the both types of measures. They are sector-oriented and complement each other in the terms of more effective implementation of measures. They are as well the only documents referring directly to the need of building environmental security, as one of the basic preconditions for maintaining the overall security of natural and socioeconomic systems. Key words:...

The Philippines is considered one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate disasters due to a combination of its geospatial, political, economic, and social attributes. The nation gets hit with an average of 20 annual tropical cyclones, also known as typhoons, and through the process of climate change, these events are only growing in both frequency and magnitude. In the coastal capital city of Metro Manila, climate change coupled with rapid and unplanned urbanization has led to increased vulnerabilities of populations, infrastructures, and increased inequalities.  This thesis aims to assess the current disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) frameworks present within the nation and National Capital Region (NCR), through a case study approach of the 2020 typhoons: Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses. It presents findings through four thematic pillars of disaster prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response and early- recovery, and recovery and rehabilitation. It uses the perspectives of three key informants from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as well as additional diversified perspectives.  Findings suggest that DRRM has evolved since the implementation of the Republic Act No 10121 (RA 10121), or the Philippine Disaster Reduction and Management Act of 2010, however, can still be improved to tackle root causes of vulnerabilities. I use Roberts and Pelling’s (2020) transformation as liberation model as a theoretical framework to generate recommendations to policymakers that can help address vulnerabilities to typhoons. These recommendations include increasing participation and inclusivity within policy and decision making, creating a formal mechanism to measure vulnerabilities and inform future DRRM policies, and finally to reframe climate change and disaster risks as a socio-ecological issue rather than just an environmental one. / Filippinerna anses vara ett av de mest sårbara länderna i världen för klimatkatastrofer på grund av en kombination av dess geospatiala, politiska, ekonomiska och sociala egenskaper. Nationen drabbas av i genomsnitt 20 årliga tropiska cykloner, även kända som tyfoner, och genom klimatförändringsprocessen växer dessa händelser bara i både frekvens och omfattning. I kusthuvudstaden Metro Manila har klimatförändringar i kombination med snabb och oplanerad urbanisering lett till ökad sårbarhet hos befolkningar, infrastrukturer och ökade ojämlikheter.  Denna avhandling syftar till att bedöma de nuvarande ramverken för katastrofriskminskning och -hantering (DRRM) som finns i landet och i National Capital Region (NCR), i fallet med tyfonerna 2020: Quinta, Rolly och Ulysses. Avhandlingen illustrerar resultaten genom fyra tematiska pelare: förebyggande och begränsning av katastrofer, beredskap, insatser och tidig återhämtning samt återhämtning och rehabilitering. Detta görs utifrån tre nyckelinformanters perspektiv, från Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) och Asian Development Bank (ADB).  Resultaten tyder på att nuvarande DRRM-policyer vidmakthåller orättvisa mönster i nationen och det borde tillämpas en förändring som befrielsemodell, baserad på Roberts och Pelling (2020), för att främja en mer rättvis och hållbar hantering av tyfoner i landet. Därför rekommenderas det att DRRM-policyer ökar deltagande och inkludering inom policy- och beslutsfattande, skapa en formell mekanism för att mäta sårbarheter och informera framtida DRRM-policyer, och slutligen att omformulera klimatförändringar och katastrofrisker som socioekologiska frågor snarare än bara miljömässiga sådana.