Building regional resilience
THE past few weeks have been a grim reminder that natural disasters know no borders; they can strike countries at opposite ends of the globe simultaneously. Whether in Asia or North America, images of people being overwhelmed and their livelihoods destroyed by extreme weather conditions are disturbing.
Typhoon Hato, tropical storm Harvey, hurricane Irma and intense flooding all raise questions about what more can be done to both mitigate the risks of extreme weather conditions and improve relief operations.
Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and intense. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in its recent report on disaster resilience for the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Leaving No One Behind” shows that natural disasters were responsible for the loss of two million lives and cost the region’s economy US$1.3tril between 1970 and 2016.
Over 90% of deaths were due to earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and floods. The poor and vulnerable bore the brunt of these disasters, suffering a death toll five times higher than the rest of the population.
By 2030, 50% of the Asian population would be living in urban areas. The combination of unplanned urban sprawl and new cities means increasing numbers of people and economic stock would be exposed to future disasters we cannot predict. In urban megacities, over 50% of the population already live in disaster-prone areas where inequality is high. Our focus must be on identifying potential scenarios, determining risk tolerance levels and building response capacity where it is inadequate.
Policy makers need to strength- en the science and policy interfaces to allow countries to deal effectively with these risks. The report offers a clear set of recommendations on how to build resilience and reinforce sustainable development in the region.
The importance of early warning cannot be overemphasised. In 2004, the world experienced the Indian Ocean tsunami which killed over 250,000 people and was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded.
Unlike the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean had no early warning system in place for coastal communities. Thanks to a founding contribution of US$10mil from Thailand, the ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness has helped to plug this gap.
But for a tsunami warning system to be sustainable, it needs to address multiple coastal hazards. Regional cooperation can help share vital innovations in science and technology to strengthen tsunami early warning systems. ESCAP’s Trust Fund has helped to empower people through improved early warning of disasters and supported knowledge transfer from countries with strong disaster risk management capabilities to other Asia-Pacific countries.
To take just one example, technical support, modern equipment and online technologies helped upgrade the Myanmar National Earthquake Data Center to meet international standards for tsunami warning centres.
ESCAP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, is holding an event at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.
Titled “Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia Pacific: Achievements in Regional Cooperation for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness”, it will be held on Sept 21 and showcase ESCAP’s research and the ESCAP Trust Fund’s contribution to building people’s resilience to disasters.