INTERVIEW // SUSTAINABILITY: DISASTER RESILIENCE AND RESPONSE
Investing in prevention to secure the future
How much damage is caused by disasters globally? In recent years, the annual direct eco- nomic impact was around $310 billion. Add the indirect losses and disrupted ecosystem services, and it is several times higher. After an earthquake, for example, there’s the cost of rebuilding a bridge plus productivity losses while people’s access to markets is dimin- ished. Over the long term, the assessed risk of direct and indirect losses exceeds $2 trillion. The good news is that decade-on- decade mortality from disasters such as cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons has gone down by almost 50%. None- theless, just in the first decade of this century, more than 100,000 people died in single events: the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Kash- mir, Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince. More people died from earthquakes in 2022, 2023 and 2024 than from other hazards. The risk of deaths from such low-frequency, high-impact events is extremely high. We cannot be complacent. Moreover, we’re likely undercounting indirect deaths. For instance, it’s diffi- cult to attribute every death to extreme heat; records might say someone died of cardiac arrest but that underlying condition could have been triggered by the heat. Why is strengthening disaster resil- ience and response key to fostering economic development? First, it is more cost effective to invest in reducing risk than in responding after the fact. The benefit of a dollar invested can be as much as $14. Given there is less money for humanitarian response now, if you don’t spend now on prevention, you’re in an unsustainable downward spiral. Your humanitar- ian needs will increase without money available to meet those needs, so there is a clear economic logic. Second, to reduce poverty and improve conditions for human flourish- ing across the world, we have to build infrastructure and create livelihood opportunities, in a manner that contin- ues to serve us for a long time. Whether it’s roads, bridges, airports, railroads or renewable energy infrastructure, it needs to build resilience. This is a huge
Disasters cause more than $300 billion in direct losses every year but prevention pays far greater dividends. Resilient infrastructure, early warning systems and local action can transform vulnerability into opportunity
Interview with Kamal Kishore, special representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction
104 // G20 SOUTH AFRICA: THE JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT 2025
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