‘Staggering’ rise in climate emergencies in last 20 years, new disaster research shows

In an urgentcall for countries toprepare better forallcatastrophic events– from earthquakes and tsunamis tobiologicalthreatssuch asthe new coronavirus –data fromthe UN Office on Disaster Risk Reduction ( UNDRR )indicatesthatwealthy nationshave done little totackletheharmfulemissionsthatare linked toclimatethreatswhichmake up the bulk ofdisasters today.

Short odds

“Disaster management agencies have succeeded in saving many lives through improved preparedness and the dedication of staff and volunteers. But the odds continue to be stacked against them,in particular byindustrial nations that are failing miserably on reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said MamiMizutori, UNDRRchief,andSpecial Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.

According to the UNDRR report - produced with Belgium’s Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters atUCLouvain-therewere7,348recordeddisaster eventsworldwide, during the last two decades.

Approximately 1.23 millionpeople died–approximately60,000 peryear– with more than fourbillionaffected in total;manymore than once.

These two decades ofdisasteralsocaused$2.97 trillioninlossesto the global economy, with data also indicating that poorer nationsexperienced deaths ratesmore than four times higher than richer nations.

By comparison, the previous 20-year period(1980 to 1999)saw4,212reporteddisastersfromnatural hazards,with1.19 milliondeaths, more than threebillion peopleaffected and economic lossestotalling$ 1.63 trillion.

Climate danger spike

Although better recording and reporting of disasters may help explain some of the increasein the last two decades,researchers insisted that thesignificant rise in climate-relatedemergencies wasthemainreasonfor the spike, with floods accounting formore than 40per centof disasters– affecting 1.65 billion people -storms 28 per cent,earthquakes(eight per cent) and extreme temperatures (six per cent).

“This is clear evidence that in a world where the global average temperature in 2019 was 1.1degreesCelsius above the pre-industrial period, the impacts are being felt in the increased frequency of extreme weather events including heatwaves, droughts, flooding, winter storms, hurricanes and wildfires,” UNDRR reported.

Despitethe pledge madeby the international communityinParis in2015to reduce global temperature rise to 1.5degreesCelsius above pre-industrial levels, Ms.Mizutoriadded that it was “baffling” that nationswerecontinuingknowingly“to sow the seeds of our own destruction, despite the science and evidence that we are turning our only home into an uninhabitable hell for millions of people”.

COVID-19 exposure

Turning tothe COVID-19 pandemic, which has “laid bare many shortcomings in disaster risk management(despite)repeated warnings”, theUNDRRreportrecommended urgent action from Governmentstobettermanagesuchoverlappingdisasters.

Thesehazardsincludedknown “risk drivers”,such as poverty, climate change, air pollution, population growth indangerouslocations, uncontrolled urbanization and the loss of biodiversity.

Chronic needs

By way ofanexampleof chronicweatherriskswhichshould be the focus ofbetternationalpreparednessmeasures,the agency pointed that shifting rainfall patterns pose a risk to the 70per centof global agriculture thatrelies on rainand the 1.3 billion people dependent on degrading agricultural land.

Despite the fact thatextreme weather events have become so regular in last 20 years, only93 countries haveimplementeddisaster riskstrategiesat a national levelahead of the end-of-year deadline, Ms.Mizutorisaid.

“Disasterrisk governance depends on political leadership above all, anddelivery on the promises made when the Paris agreement andthe were adopted,” she said.“But the sad fact is that we are wilfully destructive.And that is the conclusion of this report; COVID-19 is but the latest proof that politicians and business leaders have yet to tune into the world around them.”

She added:“It really is all about governance if we want to deliver this planet from the scourge of poverty, further loss of species and biodiversity, the explosion of urban risk and the worst consequences of global warming”,in a joint statement withUCLouvain’sProfessorDebaratiGuha-Sapir.

Although the UNDRR report indicatesthat there has beensome success inprotecting vulnerable communitiesfromisolated hazards,thanks tomore effectiveearly warningsystems, disaster preparedness and response,projected global temperature rises could make theseimprovements “obsoletein many countries”,the agencywarned.

Currently, the worldison course for a temperature increase of 3.2degrees Celsiusor more,unless industrialisednationscandeliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 7.2per centannually over the next10years in order to achieve the 1.5degreetarget agreed in Paris.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.