Countries in the Asia-Pacific region have suffered 80 per cent of the global economic losses caused by disasters during 2011, says a United Nations report released at the fifth Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction that opened here on Tuesday.
Extreme weather events are taking a heavy toll on the economies of countries in the Asia and the Pacific even while more and more people in the region are being exposed to risks posed by them, warns the report.
The earthquake in Japan, the tsunami and nuclear disaster that ensued, and the floods in Southeast Asia, Thailand in particular, were major contributors to the staggering US $ 294 billion in regional economic losses during the year, says the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2012 brought out by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).
The region is the most disaster-prone in the world and the average number of people exposed to yearly flooding in Asia has more than doubled from 29.5 million in 1970 to 63.8 million in 2010. The number of people living in cyclone-prone areas has risen to 120.7 million. Small farmers, micro enterprises and poor households bear the brunt of the costs of disasters in many developing countries.
“Exposure to hazards has multiplied as urban centres grow and people and economic activities expand into increasingly exposed and hazard-prone land,” said Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.
Margareta Wahlstrom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, said: “Reducing disaster risks is about saving lives, jobs, homes and valuable infrastructure such as schools, health facilities and roads.”
Better risk management by way of investing in early warning systems, preparedness and social safety nets could save lives as evident in some countries. Although countries are recognising that minimising disaster risks is essential for sustainable development, more needs to be done to protect various population segments that are vulnerable to disasters, such as women and children, people with disabilities and the aged, says the report calling for development strategies that reduce exposure to hazards and more investments to ensure greater resilience against disasters.
Earlier declaring open the conference, H. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, who was appointed the UN Global Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2011, said the UN high-level panel of eminent persons on the post-2015 development agenda, which met last month for the first time, was of the view that natural disasters and other crises could push millions of people back into poverty.
“Reducing disaster risks is essential for sustainable development and now is the time to act,” said Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of UN, in a video message.
The conference with the theme on strengthening local capacity for disaster risk reduction is attended by representatives from 79 nations, including 50 from Asia Pacific region.
