Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2015

Publication overview

Information and CommunicationsTechnology and Disaster RiskReduction Division

Disasters without borders: regionalresilience for sustainable development

IN BRIEFIn the wake of the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, APDR 2015assesses the state of resilience of Asia-Pacific, and identifies emerging new risks and the sectorsthat are most at risk. It focuses on cross-border disasters, such as earthquakes, droughts, tropicalcyclones and floods, and highlights that only by coming together in the spirit of cooperation can theAsia-Pacific region hope to become truly disaster resilient. The report identifies several neglectedareas of disaster risk reduction that need to be addressed urgently. Drought, a forgotten disasterin the region, pushes vast numbers of people into debt and poverty. The report shows how theimpact can be mitigated by treating drought as a long-term, recurring risk. The report alsoanalyses the value of multi-hazard early warning systems and maps out the importance ofproviding right information to right people at the right time. The report concludes that whileinvesting in disaster risk reduction is proven to be cost effective, the political commitment has nottransformed into adequate actions on the ground.

CHAPTERS

Resilience todisasters in Asiaand the Pacific

Drought - theforgottendisaster

The value ofearly warning

Right information,right people, right

time

At the heart ofsustainable

development

Transboundaryrisks

Regionalcooperation

Contact details

ESCAP IDDUnited Nations Building, Ratchadamneon Nok AvenuePhone: +66 (0)2 288 1809Fax: +66 (0)2 288 3012Email: escap-idd@un.orgWeb: www.unescap.org

Key message Regional cooperation is necessaryto address transboundary risks

addresses

The majority of disasters aretransboundary in nature

Chapter 1: Resilience to disastersin Asia and the Pacific

Disasters can push the 'near-poor'into poverty and furtherimpoverish many others

Annual losses could average US$160 billion by 2030

740 million of the urban population arenow at 'extreme' to 'high' disaster risk

Human activities are eroding environmentalbuffers and reducing the capacity ofecosystems to protect against natural hazards

Investing in DRR is proven cost-effectivebut many countries have not madesufficient progress

Asia and the Pacific is the world’s mostdisaster-prone region − exposed toearthquakes, floods, droughts andtyphoons, and many other powerfullydestructive natural phenomena. Overrecent decades the countries of theregion have been striving to becomemore resilient to disasters, and protecttheir most vulnerable communities. Butthere is a lot more to do. The region’srapid economic growth is exacerbatingmany existing risks and creating newones.

In the Asia-Pacific region

2

3

1 4

5

6

Over the period of 2005-2014 in Asia-Pacific

economic damagecaused by disasters

US 523billion

reported disasterevents

1,625

people affected bydisasters

people lost their lives dueto disasters

1.4billion

500,000global deaths dueto disasters

80%

60%

global populationaffected by disasters

45%

global economicdamage causedby disasters

40%

global disasterevents

=accounted for

=accounted for

=accounted for

=accounted for

of

of

of

of

of

of

of

of

Chapter 2: Drought - theforgotten disaster

Drought is one of the region’s mostdevastating natural disasters. But it is aslow and silent killer, and therefore oftenforgotten. Compared with earthquakes,tsunamis, typhoons and floods, droughtis a gradual phenomenon − and thedevastation it causes is indirect, bysteadily reducing supplies of water andfood. Combatting drought requiresconstant vigilance, combining high-techmonitoring with local information andknowledge − and determined efforts toprotect ecosystems and livelihoods.

Drought is a complex butforgotten transboundary riskwhich manifests in different ways

Drought is often under reportedand receives inadequate attention

Drought exacerbates poverty,farmers hit by drought may resortto “erosive” coping strategies

It affected more than 200 millionpeople in the last decade, largelypoor and vulnerable

Land and water management are linked withdrought and climate change may makethings worse

Signs of drought can be observed muchearlier using satellite information

In the Asia-Pacific region

1

2

3

4

5

6

people affectedby drought

1.6billion

economic damagecaused by drought

US 53billion

meet risingdemand

Foodproduction

poor farmers may remove childrenfrom school, take high-interest loansor sell off income-generating assetsto cope with the impact of drought

needs toincrease

climatechange

weather

water

Drought islinked toaffects

affects

weather canaffect drought

arableland

urbanisation

landdegradation

can leadto

reduces

limitscan cause low crop yields

Asia-PacificSince 1970

by 50% in 2030or 70% in 2050

inordertoas a

result

however

poor landmanagement

land degradationcan contribute todrought

global land areaaffected by droughthas doubled since1970

poor watermanagement

reduces

Chapter 3: The value of earlywarning

An effective early warning system is akey component of disaster risk reduction.Around Asia and the Pacific suchsystems save thousands of lives andmany millions of dollars.

An effective warning system combinesscience and technology with practicallocal approaches and is fully integratedinto broader national and regionalstrategies for building resilience andreducing disaster risks.

Early warning saves lives and iscost effective

Through regional cooperationprogress has been made instrengthening early warning sincethe 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

Critical gaps remain in the "lastmile" for early warning systems

Long-term financial sustainability is achallenge

Low-capacity, high-risk countries needmore support

In the Asia-Pacific region1

2

3

4

6Making systems multi-hazard andregional can bring efficiencies andenhance sustainability

5

End-to-end early warning and mitigation systemsRiskknowledge

Monitoring and warningservices Dissemination Response

capacity

research

assesment

education

global telecommunicationsystems

coastalstations

weatherstations

deep oceanstations

seismicnetwork

Dataprocessing

andforecasting

warningcentres

sirens

television

radio

mobiledevices

word ofmouth

can saveprecious time

andeffectively

save lives andlivelihoods

Good governance

Global and regional cooperation

Chapter 4: Right information,right people, right time

A critical part of disaster riskmanagement is managing the flow ofinformation. Getting the right informationto the right people at the right time saveslives and reduces losses, while alsostrengthening people’s resilience todisasters.

Some Asia-Pacific countries now havestate-of-the-art disaster informationmanagement systems, but others havemajor gaps in data and analysis.

Understanding disaster risk askswhat is at risk, what was lost andwhat could be our future losses?

Challenges remain in accessinginnovative technologies andknowledge products

Many people do not have access toreliable disaster information andoften lack the capacity to use it

Information management, involvingall, lacks sufficient coordination

Lives are at risk if communities do notreceive timely information

Transboundary risk managementrequires sharing of information

In the Asia-Pacific region1

2

3

4

5

6

Roadmap for effective andresilient information management

understanding risk

having data and informationsharing policies

generating actionableinformation

customising informationand reaching people at risk

using real-timeinformation

while protecting criticalinfrastructure

positioning

surveying

risk maps

socio-economic

data

data

information

guidelines

legislation

datacollection

analysis

climatemodelling

scenarioplanning

geo-location

dissemination

outreach crowd-sourcing

aerialphotography

satelliteimagery

Chapter 5: At the heart ofsustainable development

Disaster risk reduction cannot be confined toone or two government departments.Rather it is a responsibility for every part ofgovernment – from education to healthto transport to social protection. Just as everysector can be affected by earthquakesor floods or cyclones, so every sector needs toconsider how to make its activitiesdisaster resilient.

Integrating DRR is essential forachieving the SDGs in the region

Disasters are addressed in a fragmentedway, with more attention placed onresponse and less on DRR

Disasters affect all sectors soevery sector needs to make itsactivities resilient

As of 2013, 14 out of 64 countries in theregion had a multi-sectoral nationalplatform for DRR as prescribed by HFA

2

1

3

4

5

6

In the Asia-Pacific region

DRM strategies are estimated tohave a four-fold return in terms ofmitigating the impacts of disasters

More countries have DRR policies andlegislation but many have yet toincorporate these into develop planning

DisasterRisk

Reduction

will not beachieved

unless

In Asia-Pacific, 15 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals are closely linked with DRR

SustainableDevelopment

Goals

weaddress