Blogs

“What would it take to reduce disaster risk in your country by 50 percent by 2030?” This question was posed to a gathering of small island developing states leaders and representatives during the Understanding Risk forum in London in 2014. At the time, it probably seemed like an overwhelming question.

Malawi is no stranger to significant flooding. In January 2012, floods affected more than 10,000 people and caused US$3 million worth of damage to households and infrastructure. But this year’s floods are much larger in magnitude, even unprecedented.

​Scientists declared this past year as the warmest year on Earth since record-keeping began in 1880, and a series of scientific reports found glaciers melting and extreme weather events intensifying. There can be no doubt that this year world leaders must commit to transforming their economies to combat climate change.

The Paris negotiations where the world will be writing a new international climate agreement are just a year away, and here in Lima, delegates from around the world are discussing their national commitments and contributions that will largely determine the level of ambition in that 2015 deal.

Pacific Island Countries (PICs) face critical challenges to attain financial resilience against disasters, and rely on aid as an income stream. This can limit their post-disaster financing options and place constraints on the national budget. Alternatives—such as risk transfers—could be used to reduce the drain on limited public funds.

The approval of a successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in Sendai, Japan, in March 2015 will mark the beginning of a new era for the disaster risk management (DRM) community.

Social protection specialists, disaster risk managers, risk finance practitioners and climate change experts at the World Bank Group sat down together recently to discuss the role of social protection systems in addressing the human side of disaster and climate risks.

This week, the Resilience Dialogue, bringing together representatives from developing countries, donor agencies and multilateral development banks, will focus on financing to build resilience to natural disasters.

​​Imagine you are a city official who wants to ensure all future infrastructure and urban development in your city is climate- and disaster-sensitive. The first step is to understand the natural hazards of today and tomorrow—flood, storm surge, sea level rise, etc.—and how they could impact your city.

Disaster losses can have a severe impact on the economies of small island nations. In 2004, after Hurricane Ivan hit Grenada, a state of only 133 square miles in size, total damages were estimated around US$900 million, equivalent to 200% of national GDP at the time. While Grenada’s experience is extreme, SIDS across the world have suffered disaster impacts which reached significant losses in terms of their GDP.