Asia-Pacific counts costs of disasters

THE RELENTLESS sequence of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific during the past two years was beyond what the region had previously undergone or could predict – and this is a sign of things to come in the new climate reality, according to the latest report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap).

The Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019, released yesterday, 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.

Last year, almost half of the 281 natural disaster events worldwide occurred in the region, including eight out of the 10 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 biannual 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 (R10.2 trillion), or about 2.4% of the region’s gross domestic productg, of which $405bn or 60% 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 no one is left behind,” said UN under-secretary-general and executive secretary of Escap, Armida Alisjahbana, at the report launch in Bangkok.

“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.”

The report calls for transformative change, with social policies and disaster resilience no longer treated as separate policy domains. It highlights how policymakers can improve investments through policy reforms. |