Risk Of Global Disasters Increasing, Impacts More Hyperconnected Than Ever - UN Assessment

Risk of Global Disasters Increasing, Impacts More Hyperconnected Than Ever - UN Assessment

The risk of disasters and their impact globally has been on the rise in recent years and current data indicate that the trend is likely to continue amid an array of compounding factors, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said on Tuesday in a new global risk assessment

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2022) The risk of disasters and their impact globally has been on the rise in recent years and current data indicate that the trend is likely to continue amid an array of compounding factors, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said on Tuesday in a new global risk assessment.

"At no other point in modern history has humankind faced such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks and hazards, interacting in a hyperconnected and rapidly changing world. The increasing number of reported medium- and large-scale disasters reflects a complex interaction of factors," the assessment said.

Factors such as population growth and climate change have put more people and infrastructure in the path of hazards and increased their frequency and intensity, according to the assessment.

The number of disasters per year globally may increase from around 400 in 2015 to 560 per year by 2030 - a projected increase of 40% during the lifetime of the Sendai Framework, the assessment said.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a major agreement to protect development gains from disaster, is set to run from 2015-2030 in conjunction with other UN 2030 Agenda agreements such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and New Urban Agenda.

Current trends indicate that there is likely to be an increase of droughts by more than 30% between 2000 and 2030 as well, from an average of 16 drought events to 21 drought events per year globally, the assessment said.

Additionally, the number of extreme temperature events per year globally is expected to triple between 2001 and 2030, according to the assessment. The trend lines used to make the projections do not take into account future climate change impacts or global temperature increases, the assessment noted.

The annual cost of such disasters has also more than doubled over the past three decades, showing a 145% increase of around $70 billion in the 1990s to over $170 billion in the 2010s, the assessment added.