The world faces a disaster emergency, yet nowhere is the threat more immediate than in Asia and the Pacific. Ours is a region where climate change-induced disasters are becoming more frequent and intense. Since 1970, two million people have lost their lives to disasters.
Tragically, but all too predictably, the poorest in the least developed countries (LDCs) are worst affected. They will find themselves in the eye of the storm as temperatures rise, new disaster hotspots appear and existing risks increase.
Unless we fundamentally change our approach to building resilience to disaster risk, temperature rises of 1.5°C or 2°C will make adaptation to the threat of disasters unfeasible. Disaster risk could soon outpace resilience in Asia and the Pacific.
It is worth pondering what this would mean. The grim tally of disaster-related deaths would inevitably rise, as would the annual cost of disaster-related losses, forecast to increase to almost $1 trillion, or 3 per cent of regional GDP, under 2°C warming ¬ up from $924 billion today, or 2.9 per cent of regional GDP.
The deadly combination of disasters and extreme weather would undermine productivity and imperil sustainable development. In the poorest parts of our region, such as the Pacific small island developing States, disasters would become a major driver of inequality.
Losses would be particularly devasting in the agriculture and energy sectors, disrupting food systems and undermining food security as well as jeopardizing energy supply and production. Environmental degradation and biodiversity loss would be remorseless, leading to climate change-driven extinctions and further increasing disaster risk.
To avoid this exponential growth of disaster risk, there is a narrow window of opportunity to increase resilience and protect hard-won development gains. To seize it, bold decisions are needed to deliver transformative adaption. They can no longer be postponed.
Next week, countries meeting during our Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction will consider key questions such as prioritizing greater investment in early warning systems. Expanding coverage in least developed countries is the most effective way to reduce the number of people killed.
Early warning systems can shield people living in multi-hazard hotspots and reduce disaster losses everywhere by up to 60 per cent. They provide a tenfold return on investment. To protect food systems and reduce the exposure of the energy infrastructure – the backbone of our economies – sector-specific coverage is needed.
Investments at the local l
