Annual economic loss of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific reaches $675 billion: UN
The relentless sequence of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific the past two years was beyond what the region had previously experienced or was able to predict – and this is a sign of things to come in the new climate reality.
The relentless sequence of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific the past two years was beyond what the region had previously experienced or was able to predict – and this is a sign of things to come in the new climate reality, according to the latest report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP.
The Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019 launched today reveals that recent disasters, especially those triggered by climate change and environmental degradation, have deviated from their usual tracks and are growing in intensity, frequency and complexity. It is now more difficult to determine which areas should prepare for what kind of disaster, WAM reports.
In 2018, almost half of the 281 natural disaster events worldwide occurred in the region, including eight out of the ten deadliest. An average of 142 million people in the region have been affected annually since 1970, well above the global average of 38 million.
For the first time, the bi-annual flagship publication includes the costs of slow-onset disasters, notably drought which results in a quadrupling of annual economic losses as compared to previous estimates. The annual economic loss natural disasters for Asia and the Pacific is now $675 billion, or around 2.4 per cent of the region’s GDP, of which $405 billion or 60 percent are drought-related agricultural losses, impacting the rural poor disproportionately.
Countries across the region have committed themselves to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 to ensure that no one is left behind. But they cannot achieve many of the SDG targets if their people are not protected from disasters that threaten to reverse hard-won development gains. This means not just building resilience in the priority zones but doing so across the entire region reaching the most marginal and vulnerable communities," said United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Armida Alisjahbana at the report launch in Bangkok.
The Report calls for transformative change, with social policies and disaster resilience no longer treated as separate policy domains. It highlights how policymakers can enhance the quality of investments through policy reforms for more inclusive and empowered societies, to ensure that poor and vulnerable groups are not excluded from the benefits of investments due to barriers in accessing land, reliable early warning systems, finance and decision-making structures.
Similarly, the report explores how emerging technologies such as big data and digital identities can be used to ensure the poorest and most vulnerable groups are included in policy interventions.
Source: Kazinform News Agency
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