Disasters to increase by 40 percent in Asia-Pacific region in 6 years: UN
Last Updated on August 25, 2024 9:47 am
Despite steps taken to reduce disaster risk in the Asia-Pacific region, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) predicts a 40 percent increase in the number of disasters by 2030.
The forecast was made at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction on Thursday local time in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
Marco Toscano-Rivalta, head of UNDRR’s Asia-Pacific regional office, said in his opening remarks at the conference, “These strong projections indicate that we are moving away from the 2015 global Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction targets.”
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is a global agreement intended to assist countries in the Asia-Pacific region in disaster planning, response and rehabilitation.
Emphasizing the need for regional disaster preparedness and response, Rivalta said, “The bottom line is, we need to redouble our (disaster) response and risk reduction activities.”
Another meeting with APMCDRR members will be held in the Philippines next October to accelerate collective action to reduce disaster risk. There will be emphasis on ensuring sustainable and predictable financing, inclusive risk reduction, participation in decision-making and implementation, coordinating disaster risk reduction at the local level and strengthening early warning systems to enhance disaster risk reduction and resilience.
At the conference, Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said, ‘APMCDRR-2024 brings us together. This conference has given us an opportunity to strengthen the partnership necessary to move forward with what we have learned from here.’
“This conference is an opportunity to strengthen our commitment to protect communities and ecosystems based on our success in sustaining our progress,” said the Philippine diplomat.
Source: Xinhua