The world is facing increasing natural disasters, but nowhere is the threat more immediate than in Asia and the Pacific. In our region, natural disasters brought on by climate change have gotten more frequent and intense.
Since 1970, 2 million people have died in consequence of disasters. Tragically, but all too predictably, it’s the poorest within the least developed countries who’re hardest hit. They will probably be in the attention of the storm as temperatures rise, recent disaster hotspots emerge and existing risks increase. Unless we fundamentally change our approach to constructing resilience to disaster risk, a 1.5-2°C temperature increase will make adaptation to disaster risk unimaginable. Disaster risks may soon exceed resilience in Asia and the Pacific.
It’s value considering what that might mean. The grim variety of deaths from natural disasters will inevitably rise, just because the annual cost of losses from natural disasters is projected to rise to almost $1 trillion, or 3% of regional GDP, within the event of two°C of warming from the present $924 billion, or 2 .9% of regional GDP. The deadly combination of disasters and extreme weather would undermine productivity and threaten sustainable development.
In the poorest parts of our region, corresponding to small island developing states within the Pacific, disasters would turn out to be a significant reason behind inequality.
Losses can be particularly severe within the agriculture and energy sectors, disrupting food systems and undermining food security, in addition to threatening energy supplies and production. Environmental degradation and biodiversity loss can be relentless, resulting in species extinctions as a result of climate change and further increasing the danger of natural disasters.
To avoid an exponential increase in disaster risk, opportunities to extend resilience and protect hard-won development gains are narrow. To reap the benefits of this, daring decisions are needed that may ensure transformational adaptation. They can not be postponed.
This week, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) meets from July 25-27 with leading policymakers, experts and scientists from across the region to debate transformative adaptation policies and actions within the ESCAP Commission on Disaster Risk Reduction . The Commission will even present a 2023 Asia-Pacific disaster report.
Stakeholders concerned with this meeting will consider key issues corresponding to prioritizing greater investment in early warning systems.
Expanding coverage in least developed countries is probably the most effective method to reduce fatalities. Early warning systems can protect people living in multi-hazard hotspots and reduce losses from natural disasters all over the world by as much as 60%. They provide a tenfold return on investment. To protect food systems and reduce the exposure of energy infrastructure – the backbone of our economies – sectoral coverage is required.
Part of our approach have to be investment on the local level to enhance community responses to early warnings, delivered through greater use of world satellite data and embedded in comprehensive risk management policies.
Only transformative adaptation can deliver the systemic change needed to go away nobody behind.
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Nature-based solutions ought to be at the center of adaptation strategies. They support the sustainable management, protection and restoration of degraded environments, while reducing the danger of disasters. The evidence is evident: maintaining functional ecosystems in good ecological condition enhances disaster risk reduction. This means protecting wetlands, floodplains and forests to guard against natural hazards, in addition to protecting mangroves and coral reefs to scale back coastal flooding.
Forest restoration and sustainable agriculture are essential. In our urban centers, nature-based solutions can mitigate urban flooding and contribute to future urban resilience, including by reducing the warmth island effect.
Beyond these priorities, only transformative adaptation can deliver the systemic change needed to make sure that nobody is left alone in multi-hazard places. This change will affect various policy areas. This means adapting social protection and climate change interventions to enable poor and climate-vulnerable households to adapt and protect their assets and livelihoods.
Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation must complement one another to extend the resilience of food and energy systems, especially in dry areas and disaster-prone coasts. Technologies corresponding to the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence can improve the accuracy of real-time weather forecasts and the best way disaster warnings are communicated.
However, for this to occur, disaster risk financing have to be dramatically increased and financing mechanisms improved. In a decent budget context, we must keep in mind that investments made early in the provision chain are way more profitable than post-disaster spending.
The current funding level for adaptation falls well wanting the $144.74 billion needed for transformational adaptation. We must use progressive financing mechanisms to shut this gap. Thematic bonds, adaptation debt and ecosystem adaptation financing may help attract private investment, reduce risk and create recent markets. These instruments should complement official development assistance, and digital technologies improve the efficiency, transparency and accessibility of adaptation financing.
Now is the time to collaborate, construct on innovation and scientific breakthroughs to speed up transformative adaptation across the region.
To strengthen cooperation through established United Nations mechanisms and in partnership with sub-regional intergovernmental organizations, a regional strategy supporting early warning for all is required. At ESCAP, we stand able to support this process every step of the best way, because sharing best practices and pooling resources can improve our region’s collective resilience and response to climate-related threats.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can only be achieved if we make sure that disaster risk never exceeds disaster resilience. Let us seize this moment and protect our future in Asia and the Pacific.
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
