UN body warns of 40% surge in disasters in Asia-Pacific by 2030

The Asia-Pacific region is crafting measures to reduce the risk of disasters, which are projected to increase by 40 percent by 2030, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has warned.

"This stark projection indicates that we are going off course from the goal we set in the global blueprint for disaster risk reduction, the Sendai Framework in 2015. We are building risk rather than decreasing it," Marco Toscano-Rivalta, UNDRR chief of the regional office for Asia and the Pacific, said at the media launch of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) in Manila on Thursday.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is a global agreement created to help countries plan, respond and build back from disasters.

Rivalta stressed the need for more and better regional disaster preparedness and response, saying that "most fundamentally, we need to double down on prevention and risk reduction."

The urgency of accelerating collective action on disaster risk reduction is the highlight of the APMCDRR 2024, a biennial multi-stakeholder event convened by the UNDRR. The Philippines will host the meeting in October.

The conference will focus on securing sustainable and predictable financing to reduce disaster risk and resilience, ensuring inclusive risk reduction and participation in decision-making and implementation, integrating disaster risk reduction at the local level, and strengthening early warning systems.

"The 2024 APMCDRR offers us the chance to come together, share what we have learned, and strengthen the partnerships necessary to move forward," Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, also chair of the APMCDRR 2024, told a news conference.

She said the meeting is "an opportunity to continue our progress, build on our successes, and reinforce our commitment to protecting our communities and ecosystems."