World Bank: Natural disasters drive 26 million into poverty annuallyNovember 14, 2016 - 17:16 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Natural disasters drive at least 26 million people into poverty each year and cause more than $500 billion in lost consumption, far exceeding the value of damage to property alone, AFP reports citing a World Bank report released Monday, November 14. Those numbers will be driven up in the coming decades as climate change amplifies the destructive power of cyclones, flooding and drought, said the report, released on the margins of high-level UN climate talks in Marrakesh. Up to now, global calculations of the damage wrought by Nature on communities have not adequately taken into account disparities in wealth, according to the 190-page report, entitled "Unbreakable: Building the resilience of the poor in the face of natural disasters". The new approach has huge implications for how and where to best spend money to make cities and rural areas more resilient to such shocks. "One dollar in losses does not mean the same thing to a rich person as a poor person," said lead author Stephane Hallegatte. "The same loss affects poor and marginalised people far more because their livelihoods depend on few assets, and their consumption is closer to subsistence level." Today, a government deciding where to install infrastructure to avoid urban flooding would logically favour a wealthy district that suffered $20 million of property damage over a poor one where asset losses totalled $10 million. But the calculation changes as soon as the often long-lasting human misery left in the wake of flooding in a slum area is factored in. Building dikes and drainage systems in the poorer area "would generate lower gains in avoided assets loss, but larger gains in well-being," the report said. The true cost of natural disasters have been vastly underestimated, it concluded. A recent UN study of 117 countries, both rich and developing, estimated total global asset losses from natural disasters at $327 billion (304 billion euros) a year, AFP says. But if lost consumption -- when medicine or schooling for example that was barely within reach before becomes unaffordable -- is included, the bill totals about $520 billion (482 billion euros) annually, the World Bank found. Based on a global survey of 1.2 million people in 89 nations, the report also showed that 26 million people fall below the income threshold of $1.9 (1.75 euros) a day, a widely accepted measure of poverty. "This is surely a conservative figure," Hallegatte told AFP. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Power of One Dram sums up two-year program with Teach for Armenia Idram Junior also joined the companies during the visit, bringing with it a fascinating intellectual game for children Moscow slams EU mission in Armenia for “provocative activity” The EU mission is doing more and more against Armenia’s neighbors Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Mikhail Galuzin said. Yerevan Mayor to travel to Paris on May 15-19 The official delegation headed by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan will travel to Paris from May 15 to 19. Armenia, India hold first defense consultations The meeting was attended by Indian Ambassador Nilakshi Saha Sinha and Defense Attaché Brigadier General Naveen Nijhawan. |