2016 World Risk Report

WorldRiskReport

Whether it be an earthquake or a tsunami, a cyclone or floods, the risk of a natural event turning into a disaster always depends only partly on the force of the natural event itself. The living conditions of the people in the regions affected and the options available to respond quickly and toprovide assistance are just as significant.

Those who are prepared, who know what to do in the event of an extreme natural event, have a greater chance of survival. Countries that see natural hazards coming, that are preparing for the consequences of climate change and are providing the financial means required will be better prepared for the future. The WorldRiskReport should contribute to look at these links at a global level and draw future-oriented conclusions regarding assistance measures, policies and reporting.

As an essential part of the WorldRiskReport, the WorldRiskIndex, created by United Nations Universitys Institute for Environment and Human Security, indicates the risk of disaster in consequence of exreme natural events for 171 countrys.

WorldRiskIndex

2016

Nature cannot be controlled. Humans can only influence to a limited degree whether, and with what intensity, natural events are to occur. But they can take precautions to help prevent a natural event from becoming a disaster. It is this vulnerability of a society that forms the basis for the WorldRiskIndex, which calculates the disaster risk for 171 countries by multiplying vulnerability with exposure to natural hazards (cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, floods, and sea-level rise).

The WorldRiskIndex 2016 shows that the global hotspots for a high disaster risk lie in Oceania, Southeast Asia, Central America, and the Southern Sahel. Thus countries like the Solomon Islands (ranked 6th), Papua-New Guinea (ranked 10th), and Guinea-Bissau (ranked 15th) are all very strongly exposed to natural hazards and, owing to their poor economic and social situations, particularly vulnerable. The example of Australia demonstrates how a low level of vulnerability can lower disaster risk. The country mitigates its exposure, which is mainly to drought, earthquakes and sea-level rise, and thus attains a ranking of 121st from 171 in the WorldRiskIndex. However, the example of Japan shows that a low level of vulnerability cannot fully compensate for extreme exposure. Despite its very low vulnerability, the country is in place 17 in the WorldRiskIndex because of its very high exposure, mainly to earthquakes and floods. In countries like Liberia (ranked 56th), Zambia (ranked 66th) and the Central African Republic (ranked 71st), the situation is the reverse of that in Japan. They are rather weakly exposed to natural hazards but very vulnerable. A total 13 of the 15 countries with the highest vulnerability are situated on the African continent. For these countries in particular, it is true that development helps.

Worldmap of Risk

2016

WorldRiskReport2016.pdf

For more Details:

http://weltrisikobericht.de/english

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