Governments around the world are underestimating the costs of disasters, particularly smaller ones triggered by weather and climate extremes, which is undermining the case for efforts to reduce risk, the United Nations’ new disaster prevention chief said (in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation).
Robert Glasser, who became head of the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) this month, warned that lower-level disasters – such as droughts and floods that hit provinces or regions rather than entire countries – are happening more often.
That is increasing the financial burden of helping those affected, putting a growing strain on an already over-stretched international aid system, he said in an interview.
“Not only are we falling short in being able to fund the big visible disasters, we’re also falling short in meeting the ones that are below the radar screen, that still affect many tens of thousands of people,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Geneva.
Full interview: http://tmsnrt.rs/1SB7hDk
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