Philippines tops world disaster risk index 2022; NDRRMC ‘took note’ of report

The Philippines has the highest disaster risk among 193 countries around the world this year, according to a global risk index.

The WorldRiskIndex (WRI) measures countries' disaster risk from extreme natural events and the effects of climate change. It calculates each nation's exposure, or the extent the population is exposed to disasters such as storms, flooding, droughts, and sea level rise; and vulnerability—or its susceptibility, ability to cope, and ability to adapt to these events.

The Philippines scored high in its exposure, vulnerability, susceptibility, lack of coping capacities, and lack of adaptive capacities in the face of disasters.

At a public briefing on Monday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the council aims to improve actions to address the country’s vulnerability in disasters.

“We took note of the result of the world index report,” NDRRMC spokesperson Assistant Secretary Raffy Alejandro said.

“Our goal is to continuously improve the national government policies and programs para ma-address po yung [to address our] vulnerability to natural hazards,” he added.

The countries with the highest disaster risk worldwide are the Philippines (WRI 46.82), India (WRI 42.31), and Indonesia (WRI 41.46), the report said.

It added that nine of the 15 countries with the highest disaster risk are among the 15 most populous countries in the world.

The Americas is the continent with the highest disaster risk followed by Asia and Africa.

"Floods, heat waves and droughts are increasing seriously, and climate change is also having a massive impact on the assessment of risks,” said the executive director of Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft and project manager of the WorldRiskReport 2022, Peter Mucke.

“For a country's risk of an extreme natural event turning into a disaster, natural and climate-related exposure forms the first part of the equation The second part is what is known as the vulnerability of society. This vulnerability is the factor of risk that can be directly influenced," he added.

From 27, the WorldRiskIndex now comprises a total of 100 indicators. The new indicators included the effect on populations, expansion of the “exposure” component, among others.

The WorldRiskIndex (WRI) 2022 was published by Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum (IFHV). — BM, GMA News