The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019 published by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has reported about the sharp increase over the last 20 years, claiming about 1.23 million lives, affecting more 4 billion people resulting in nearly USD 3 trillion economic losses. Overall, climate-related disasters went up from 3,656 in 1980-1999 to 6,681 in 2000-2019, an increase over 83% over last four decades. A review of available data from Tsunami events over a 20-years period (1998-2917) put losses at 251,770 deaths and USD 280 billion in economic losses. This is compared with 998 deaths and USD 2.7 billion in recorded losses from tsunamis over the previous 20 years (1878-1997).
Globally, over 700 million people in low-lying coastal areas and Small Island Developing States are exposed to coastal disaster, from Tsunami to slow-onset sea level events. In the past 100 years, about 58 tsunamis have taken more than 260,000 lives, which equates to an average of 4,600 lives per disaster, a death toll that exceeds any other natural hazards (United Nations, 2022). By the year 2030, an estimated 50% of the world’s population will live in coastal areas exposed to flooding, storms and tsunamis. Though tsunamis are rare events, they are extremely deadly and costly sudden-onset hazards. Hundreds of millions of people live in low-lying coastal areas exposed to tsunamis risk. Scaling up international cooperation to develop countries will help ensure that 100% of communities at risk of tsunami are prepared for and resilient to tsunamis by 2030.
While progress has been made in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) since its adoption in 2015, no country is on track to achieve the outcome and goal by 2030. Failure to implement the Sendai Framework, to reduce risk in social, economic and environmental systems, renders impossible the attainment of the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this year of the Midterm Review of the SFDRR – it is all the more necessary for Member States, the United Nations System, civil society, academia, the scientific community, the private sector, and other stakeholders truly consider how to build resilience, foster a culture of early warning and early action, and minimise the risks posed by tsunamis and other hazards.
PROGRAMME BOOK – ENGLISH VERSION
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