Unbreakable: Building the resilience of the poor in the face of natural disasters

This report warns that the combined human and economic impacts of extreme weather on poverty are far more devastating than previously understood. The study uses a new method of measuring disaster damages, factoring in the unequal burden of natural disasters on the poor. Findings show that in all of the 117 countries studied, the effect on well-being, measured in terms of lost consumption, is found to be larger than asset losses. Because disaster losses disproportionately affect poor people, who have a limited ability to cope with them, the report estimates that impact on well-being in these countries is equivalent to consumption losses of about $520 billion a year. This outstrips all other estimates by as much as 60 per cent.

The report further assesses, the benefits of resilience-building interventions in the countries studied. These include :

• early warning systems;
• improved access to personal banking;
• insurance policies and;
• social protection systems (like cash transfers and public works programs)

These measures combined would help countries and communities save $100 billion a year and reduce the overall impact of disasters on well-being by 20 percent.