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|NOVEMBER 08, 2019
From tsunamis in Asia and
earthquakes Latin America, to hurricanes in the Caribbean and cyclones in Africa, disasters caused by natural
hazards claimed some
1.3 million lives between 1998 and 2017, and wreaked
untold havoc on livelihoods and infrastructure worldwide.
A primary school in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo credit: Quang Vu/Shutterstock
We see
no sign of the risk posed by natural hazards decreasing, particularly having
witnessed the devastating impact of Cyclone Idai on
families and communities in Africa earlier this year. What’s worse, climate
change is making storms, floods, droughts, and heatwaves even more frequent,
damaging, and deadly.
In an
era of worsening climate and disaster risks, countries and cities have no
choice but to plan better and invest more in resilient infrastructure –
homes, schools, and roads – to meet urbanization challenges and sustain
economic growth.
In
fact, it pays to make our homes safer and our schools more
resilient. Recent
research suggests that investing in resilient
infrastructure can provide a net benefit of $4.2 trillion in low and
middle-income countries, with $4 in benefit for each $1 invested. Such
investments can then improve essential services – such as transport, or water
and electricity supply – and contribute to more resilient and prosperous
societies.
Just like families living in unsafe homes, children and
youth studying in poor quality school buildings are also vulnerable to
climate and disaster impact. Disasters
damage or destroy school infrastructure, harming or even killing students,
teachers, and other members of the school community. In Ecuador, for example,
the 2016 earthquake damaged almost 1,000 schools and left more than 120,000
children temporarily without education. In Mozambique, 4,000 classrooms were
destroyed by cyclones this past year. These disasters also have a devastating
effect on children’s education and learning environments.
That’s
why the World Bank and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
(UNDRR) are both committed to helping cities and communities mobilize global
resources and take local actions to build climate-smart, disaster-resilient
infrastructure.
Cities
can only be as resilient as their infrastructure, which is why UNDRR,
together with the Government of India co-developed the Coalition for Disaster
Resilient Infrastructure. Launched by Prime Minister Modi at the UN Climate
Action Summit in September, CDRI will support countries to risk-proof
investment plans by providing technical input, exchanging best practice, and
capacity building.
UNDRR is
also committed to leading action in this area through the Making Cities
Resilient Campaign, which more than 4,200 cities have joined over the past 10
years. In consultation with partners, and in response to a clear request from
the cities with which the campaign has worked, a new campaign will launch in
2020, supporting cities to reduce disaster and climate risk through improved
technical support and enhanced capacity for raising finances to implement
change.
Similarly,
as the World Bank continues to build back
better to reduce annual disaster-related
losses, its Global Program
for Resilient Housing is stepping up efforts to help
countries, cities, and communities build better before the next disaster by
making homes safer and more resilient to natural hazards. For example:
- In Guatemala, a rapid, low-cost, and AI-enabled
assessment approach – combining drones and car-mounted camera imagery –
helped identify and map a significant share of the buildings at risk of
collapse in an earthquake. In Saint Lucia, the same approach was used to
assess rooftop damage risks from a Category-5 hurricane.
- In Indonesia, the government is making resilience a
central part of their home improvement subsidy program, one of the
largest in the world.
- In Mexico, the authorities are upgrading their
housing programs to make them more inclusive and resilient.
- In Peru, automated property valuations and
vulnerability assessments have been conducted to support municipalities.
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