Half million died in decade of disasters in Asia Pacific – UN

BANGKOK - The Asia Pacific region, the most disaster-prone part of the world, suffered 1,625 disasters in the decade through 2014, and needs to spend more on adapting to climate change and preparing for more extreme weather, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The region's disasters—40 percent of the global total—claimed half a million lives over the decade, affected 1.4 billion people and caused $523 billion in economic damage, the 2015 UN Asia-Pacific Disaster Report said.

The world body urged the region's governments to invest more in adapting to climate change and preparing for disasters as the risks the region faces are worsened by its rapid economic growth and mushrooming population.

"Building resilience is not a choice or luxury for us, but a compulsion," Shamshad Akhtar, head of the UN regional development arm for Asia Pacific, said at the launch of the report in Bangkok.

"Investing in disaster risk reduction is of course proven effective. It's a critical area, but at the same time it's neglected."

Some 772 million poor people in the region are particularly vulnerable to disasters and tend to live in low-value, hazard-prone areas such as urban slums, steep slopes, flood plains and riverbanks, the report said.

They lack the resources to take preventive measures and do not having savings to draw upon when disaster strikes, it said.

International aid for disasters was $28 billion from 2004 to 2013, but most of this was for emergency response and rehabilitation, rather than prevention, it said.

Philippine figures

According to the report, the Asia Pacific region experienced eight of the 10 largest disasters during this period in terms of fatalities, and four of the ten worst in terms of economic damage.

Typhoon Yolanda, which swept through central Philippines in November 2013, is ranked number eight on the list of largest disasters by fatality, but did not make the second list.

"Manila and other pockets across the Philippines" were also named among the region's "multi-hazard hotspots" (areas with significant risk from cyclones, earthquakes, floods and landslide).

Exposure, risk and coping capacities. On the list of Asia Pacific countries with the highest exposure to natural disasters, the Philippines ranks third behind Vanuatu and Tonga.

On the list of Asia Pacific countries with the highest risk of natural disasters, it ranks second only to Vanuatu.

"Risk" is defined here by the World Risk Report 2014 as the combination of exposure, susceptibility and coping and adaptive capacities.

The report said that like many high-exposure countries, the Philippines has limited coping capacities (i.e., the coping capacity of governments and medical services, as well as the extent of insurance coverage) and is therefore more vulnerable to disasters than a country like Japan, which is highly exposed but also more resilient.

The Philippines' coping capacities are rated at 20 percent, compared to Japan's 60+ percent at the top of the list.

The report, however, noted that while the Philippines' special funds for disaster risk management during the period 2009-2011 comprised only 2.12 percent of the national budget and 0.28 percent of the GDP, this is still 20 times more than the international community's investment in disaster risk reduction.

The Ring of Fire. The report noted that the Philippines is one of the most populous countries in the region's Ring of Fire, whose tectonic plate movements create about 90 percent of the world's earthquakes.

It said that while people in 86 countries live within 100 kilometers of an active volcano, the largest numbers of people exposed are in the Ring of Fire, notably the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. However, it added, when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, "effective monitoring and forecasting and timely evacuation organized by the disaster management authorities" saved many lives.

SMEs and economic losses. The report also noted that small and medium enterprises are often vulnerable, especially those in the informal sector that are typically located in more hazardous areas and do not have risk assessments.

The report said that 90 percent of the Philippines' firms are microenterprises, "of which most are informal." Of these, it added, more than 60 percent are in "high-risk disaster areas" such as the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas and Western Visayas. SMEs were hit the hardest by Tropical Storm Ondoy (2009) and Typhoon Pablo (2012), it said.

In calculating potential future losses due to disasters, the report estimates that the annual average loss (AAL) globally will be $415 billion by 2030. Losses in the Asia Pacific region are expected to account for 40 percent of this amount, due to having seven of the 10 countries with the highest expected losses. The Philippines ranks seventh on this list, with just under $10 billion expected AAL, according to data from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

Making homes stronger

In the Pacific Island nation of Fiji, the government began allocating funds for disaster risk reduction in 2013, "shifting from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention", said Inia Batikoto Seruiratu, Fijian national disaster management minister.

Home to about 887,000 people, Fiji is improving roads, bridges and jetties, as well as lifelines such as water and electricity infrastructure, Seruiratu said at the UN conference center in Bangkok.

With most people living in rural areas, Fiji is also focusing on programs to ensure economic well-being, increasing its budget to help rural communities repair or rebuild homes with better quality materials that can withstand cyclones, he said.

"If you look at the figures from previous disasters, a lot of money is spent on housing rehabilitation because most people lose their houses," Seruiratu said.

"It's about cost and benefit: Increase the allocation on housing, rather than spending more money when the disaster comes."

Akhtar said regional cooperation was crucial as many disasters strike across borders, including floods, cyclones, droughts, and most recently the 7.5-magnitude earthquake on Monday that killed hundreds in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"It is a grave concern that disasters are becoming more frequent, much larger and more intense," she said.

"Increasing threats from transboundary risks across the region demand ... cross-border sharing of information and regional cooperation."

She said multi-hazard early warning systems help save lives, adding that early warning systems must include fast and reliable dissemination of warnings, community awareness on how to respond, and long-term financial sustainability to support developing these mechanisms.

"Since the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, our early warning system strengthened, but gaps remain in the last mile," Akhtar said. — Reuters