Flooding in Vietnam (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Natural disasters could cause more destructive damage in theAsia-Pacific, where local population suffer the risk five times harder thanother regions, warned the United Nations, urging for action on disasterresilience.
Accordingto the “Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2017” of the UN Economics and SocialCommission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) released on October 10, floods,storms and other extreme weather phenomena claimed 4,987 lives this year, much fewercompared to annual average since 1970, and affected 34.5 million people.
The UNreport says natural disasters will grow more destructive in Asia-Pacificwithout action on disaster resilience. The report noted that due to the leastcapacity to prepare for or respond to disasters, the poor and low-incomecountries in the region experienced almost 15 times more disaster deaths thanthe high-income countries.
Italso stressed that disasters could heavily impact and create more difficultiesfor the vulnerable, especially those who live in rural areas.
Inaddition to human costs, ESCAP research indicates that between 2015 and 2030,40 percent of global economic losses from disasters will be in Asia and thePacific. It also shows that future natural disasters may have greaterdestructive potential.
Thereport stated that countries facing largest economic losses due to disasterswill be major economies like China and Japan. However, least developed and smallisland countries in the region will face greatest burden of losses of between2.5 and 4 percent of their GDP.
[North-western ethnic minorities equipped with disaster response skills]
ESCAPalso called for actions to mitigate disaster risk linked to climate change, includingsetting up a regional early warning system and investing in disaster riskeducation.
Itsaid building disaster resilience into agricultural development plans wasimportant, as studies showed most poor people in Asia-Pacific are farmers inrural areas.-VNA
