It is becoming increasingly clear that many disasters such as floods, storms, landslides and droughts are no longer purely natural, but are the most dramatic impacts of climate change caused by human activity.
The number of disasters – many of them weather-related such as fires and floods, but also other hazards such as pandemics or chemical accidents – could reach 560 a year, or 1.5 a day, by 2030, putting millions of lives in danger, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said in its global assessment report.
Disasters disproportionately impact developing countries, which lose an average 1% of GDP a year to them, compared to 0.1-0.3% in developed countries, the report said.
The Asia-Pacific region suffers the highest damage, losing an average 1.6% of GDP to disasters annually.
Developing countries also tend to be under-insured.
Only 40% of disaster-related losses since 1980 were insured. Insurance coverage rates in developing countries were sometimes close to zero, the report further mentioned.