Economic Losses, Poverty and Disasters 1998-2017
January 16, 2019
This report published by the UNISDR gives an excellent analysis of economic lossess due to disasters. Between 1998 and 2017 climate-related and geophysical disasters killed 1.3 million people and left a further 4.4 billion injured, homeless, displaced or in need of emergency assistance. While the majority of fatalities were due to geophysical events, mostly earthquakes and tsunamis, 91% of all disasters were caused by floods, storms, droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.
If development and economic growth are not risk informed, they are not sustainable and can undermine efforts to build resilience. The economic losses which often ensue from the creation of new risk or exacerbation of existing levels of risk can have a significant human cost.
Online home UNISDR
https://www.unisdr.org/2016/iddr/IDDR2018_Economic%20Losses.pdf