Asia-Pacific to absorb 40% of losses

With natural disasters expected to grow more frequent, intense, and destructive, economies in the Asia-Pacific must ensure that national development strategies are firmly grounded in disaster resilience, according to a report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2017 said disaster risk is outpacing resilience in Asia-Pacific-the most disaster-prone region in the world-a situation that will bring increasingly heavy consequences in socio-economic costs if not reversed.

Beyond the staggering human costs, the report predicts that about 40 percent of global economic losses from natural disasters occurring between 2015 and 2030 will be in Asia-Pacific.

The greatest risks are in South, Southwest Asia, and Southeast Asia, largely because of natural hazards, said the report.

One sector to be progressively badly affected. Over recent years, agriculture in Asia and the Pacific absorbed on average 17 percent of the total economic impact caused by natural hazards, said the report.

But the sector is also linked with industry and services through both demand and production. “Reduced agricultural output also therefore slows overall economic growth, leading to a deterioration of country’s balance of payments and increased borrowing,” the report stated. /