The Global Assessment Report (GAR2022), produced by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) ahead of the Global Platform for Risk Reduction next month, revealing that between 350 and 500 medium to large-scale disasters have occurred annually over the past two decades.
Statistically, the number of disaster events is forecast to reach 560 a year – or 1.5 per day – by 2030.
GAR2022 blames these disasters on a misperception of risk based on “optimism, underestimation, and invincibility,” leading to policy, financial and development decisions that worsen the situation. aggravate existing vulnerabilities and put people at risk.
‘Self-destructive spiral’
“The world needs to do more to incorporate disaster risk into the way we live, build and invest, which is sending humanity into a spiral of self-destruction.” speak Amina Mohammed, UN Under-Secretary-General, who presented the report at UN headquarters in New York.
“We must turn collective complacency into action. Together, we can slow the pace of preventable disasters as we work to provide Sustainable development goals (SDGs) for everyone, everywhere. ”
The report, titled, Our World at Risk: Transforming Governance for a Resilient Future, shows that implementing disaster risk reduction strategies, as called for in Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction agreed in 2015, has reduced both the number of people affected and killed by disasters, over the past decade.
However, the scale and intensity of disasters is increasing, with more people killed or affected in the past five years than in the previous five.
Disasters disproportionately affect developing countries, which lose an average of one percent of GDP a year to disasters, compared with less than 0.3 percent in developed countries.
Large toll collection in Asia-Pacific
The Asia-Pacific region bears the highest cost, where an average of 1.6 percent of GDP is lost each year due to disasters, while the poorest suffer the most in developing countries.
The lack of insurance to assist in recovery efforts, adds to the long-term impacts of disasters. Since 1980, only 40% of disaster-related losses have been insured, while insurance rates in developing countries are often below 10% and sometimes close to zero, the report said.
“Disasters can be prevented, but only if countries invest time and resources to understand and reduce their risks,” Mami MizutoriSpecial Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the Committee UNDRR.
Destroy the bank
“By deliberately ignoring risk and not integrating it in decision-making, the world is effectively covering its own devastation,” she said. “Critical industries, from government to development and financial services, must urgently rethink how they perceive and address disaster risk.”
An area of increasing risk is around more extreme weather events due to climate change. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction builds on GAR2022 based on calls to accelerate adaptation efforts made at COP26, by showcasing how policymakers can develop and investment in climate adaptation.
This includes reforming national budget planning to consider risk and uncertainty, and reconfiguring legal and financial systems to incentivize risk reduction.
Funding the fight against climate
It also offers examples that countries can learn from, such as Costa Rica’s innovative carbon tax on fuel introduced in 1997, which has helped reverse deforestation, a major cause of disaster risks, and at the same time bring benefits to the economy.
By 2018, about 98% of electricity in Costa Rica came from renewable energy sources.
GAR2022 was drafted by a group of experts from around the world to reflect the different areas of expertise needed to understand and mitigate complex risks.
Its findings will be incorporated into the Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework, which includes national consultations and assessments of how countries are implementing their goals, targets and priorities for action.
With the review underway, “this report should serve as a wake-up call that countries need to accelerate action on the four priorities of the Framework to prevent a spiraling disaster,” said Ms. Mizutori.
“The good news is that human decisions are the single biggest contributor to disaster risk, so we have the potential to significantly reduce the threats posed to humanity, and especially those most vulnerable to disasters. the most vulnerable of us.”
