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Asia - Pacific should strengthen resilience against natural disasters
Asia - Pacific should strengthen resilience against natural disasters
5/3/15
As reported
recently by the Economic and Social Commission in Asia and the Pacific of the
United Nations (ESCAP) announced on February 25, 2015, even though it was not
witnessed a natural disaster at large-scale by earthquake or tsunami in 2014,
more than half of 226 natural disasters in the past year in the world took
place in the Asia - Pacific.
Annual report
entitled “Natural Disasters in Asia and the
Pacific: Looking back 2014” indicated the total number of more than 6,000
deaths caused by natural disasters in 2014 in comparison with 18 744 deaths in
the year 2013. The report also showed that 79.6 million people were affected by
natural disasters in the region, 85% of them were related to storms, floods and
landslides.
As reported by
ESCAP, economic losses caused by natural disasters in 2014 also remained high,
totaling 59.6 billion.
This study also
analyzed the level of resilience of the region and the lessons learned from
past disasters. The study emphasized that the highest economic losses in Asia
and the Pacific was due to the floods in the river basin (16 billion USD) and
Hudhud storm (11 billion USD) in India, the earthquake in the Ludian county of
China (6 billion USD), and the tropical storm Lingling and Kajiki in Japan (5.2
billion USD).
However, according
to ESCAP, the Asia and Pacific region is largely
unprepared to cope with floods and landslides. The disasters, which will be
able to increase due to climate change, require the exchange of information at
the regional level and coordination of effectively early warning systems.
Therefore, the report called for enhancement of regional cooperation to deal
with cross-border disasters.
The conclusions
show that the ESCAP prepared to cope with the severe storms thanks to the early
warning system efficiency which has significantly reduced the number of deaths.
According to the
report, the Asia - Pacific region experienced
five major droughts in 2014, affecting 31.5 million people.
The report calls
on countries in the region to strengthen attention to the disaster beginning
slowly as drought which could affect the poorest of the population.
In March 2015 in Sendai , Japan
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All comments [ 10 ]
Rapidly growing cities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to disasters in the East Asia Pacfic region due to poor planning, with economic losses increasing dramatically as the region grows wealthier.
Policy makers can make a significant difference to ensure that progress in development and poverty reduction are not lost by acting now to build resilience.
Investing in disaster preparedness -- from strengthening hazard forecast services to restoring natural ecosystems -- can be surprisingly cost-effective.
East Asia Pacific is the region that is most affected by cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes and floods. To confront these disaster challenges, governments need to be prepared for the unexpected and undertake major investments in disaster risk management and resilience
Strong, Safe and Resilient – A Strategic Policy Guide for Disaster Risk Management in the East Asia and the Pacific
Driven by rapid economic growth and urbanization, with a greater concentration of people and assets in cities, this trend is expected to continue. Unplanned or poorly planned urbanization puts communities at risk, particularly through informal settlements and inadequate land management.
Developing countries in the region will be exposed to large fiscal impacts on public expenditure, as governments shoulder an increasing financial responsibity for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction.
The urbanization of disasters, with frequent flooding, rising complexity, and greater cross-regional impacts, calls for urgent action.
What is not necessarily well known is that investing in risk reduction and emergency preparedness can be extremely cost-effective, greatly reducing the impact of natural hazards.
investing in hazard forecasting and hydrometeorological early warning systems can have a high cost-benefit ratio with immediate and significant payoffs. Strengthening legislation and promoting institutional coordination, promoting disaster risk reduction in community-based development programs are also beneficial.
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