World headed for 560 disasters a year by 2030, UN report warns

Human activity contributes to an increase in disasters. A UN report shows that 350-500 large and medium-sized disasters have occurred globally over the past 20 years.

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) saidIn its global assessment report.

Climate change is increasing extreme weather events. saidHumans who add humans made poor decisions and were too focused on potential disasters. They are now unprepared.

The report also notes that the impact of natural disasters has been increased by increasing populations in areas more susceptible to them. said.

“The world needs to do more to incorporate disaster risk in how we live, build and invest, which is setting humanity on a spiral of self-destruction,” saidAmina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secret-General, presented the report at UN headquarters, New York.

“We must turn our collective complacency to action.”

The report shows that disasters have a greater impact on developing countries than they do in developed countries. They lose an average of 1% of their GDP per year, while 0.1-0.3% in developed nations. said.

The Asia-Pacific region experiences the greatest damage, losing on average 1.6% of its GDP each year to natural disasters.

Also, developing countries are often under-insured.

Only 40% were insured for disaster-related loss since 1980. The report found that insurance coverage rates in developing countries are sometimes very low, with some cases even close to zero. said.

“The financial system really needs to get ahead of this curve, because otherwise there’s a lot of built-up risk that isn’t being priced into how we make decisions,” Jenty Kirsch-Wood, coordinating lead author of the report, told Reuters.

(Reporting and Editing by Carolyn Cohn; Editing By Toby Chopra