Disaster plans need refining

Weather-related calamities in Asia posing a bigger economic threat as the region develops and populations shift

• Published: 20/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: Business

 While Asian countries have joined other developed countries in reducing mortality risks from weather-related disasters, economic loss risk is increasing, according to a new UN report.

In order to curtail the risks, governments are being urged to adjust their policies and disaster risk reduction planning, or even decentralise them in some localities.

An impressive trend in the reduction of mortality risk in Asia-Pacific is evident in the statistics gathered for the 2011 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

Since 1970, the frequency of tropical cyclones has not increased, but more people have moved into disaster-prone areas, thus pushing up their exposure to disasters.

But despite rising exposure to hazards, several countries including those in Asia-Pacific have successfully been reducing deaths from weather events.

"When looking back from 2010 to 1990, vulnerability has been going down globally, and in Asia-Pacific," said Andrew Maskrey, lead author of the report and the UNISDR coordinator. "It's not the trend for every single country but for the whole region."

However, the risk of economic losses continues to increase, posing a threat to countries' economies and social systems. Worldwide, economic loss risk associated with weather-related hazards such as floods and tropical cyclones is found to be increasing.

The value of global GDP exposed to weather-related hazards was found to have tripled from the 1970s to the 2000s, from $525.7 billion to $1.6 trillion. Increases in economic loss risk associated with those incidents were highest in high-income countries where they went up by 262%. In Asia-Pacific, the figure rose more than 150%.

These hazards are responsible for a large proportion of damage to local infrastructure and the housing and livelihoods of low-income households and communities.

Poor development projects and planning also contribute to increasing disaster risks.

Source :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22024