Real cost of disasters is 10 times higher than previously thought, says UN

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Arun Kumar

That’s according to a report released Tuesday by the UN’s disaster risk reduction agency, UNDRR.

While current estimates suggest the global economic impact of natural emergencies – such as earthquakes, landslides and floods – amounts to around $200 billion annually, this figure represents “only a fraction of the real costs,” said Jenty Kirsch-Wood, head of global risk analysis for UNDRR.

The true cost is closer to $2.3 trillion, she added, warning that the world has been “chronically underestimating and undermeasuring the impact of disasters” on sustainable development progress.

Catastrophic floods

A person born in 1990 has a 63 per cent chance of experiencing a once-in-a-century catastrophic flood in their lifetime. For a child born in 2025, that probability rises to 86 per cent.

“Those events are affecting us all,” said Ms. Kirsch-Wood.

The cost of extreme weather is not measured solely in destroyed infrastructure, but also in lost years of health, education and opportunity.

Unsustainable humanitarian response

Healthcare, education, and employment are increasingly disrupted by emergencies, leading to higher national debt and slower recovery – particularly in already vulnerable countries.

This has contributed to “an unsustainable and unsupportable humanitarian response,” Ms Kirsch-Wood added, as nations grapple with increasingly frequent and severe climate shocks.

UNDRR using data from EM-DAR, CRED/UCLouvain, 2025, Brussels, Belgium.

Losses have doubled

According to UNDRR, financial losses from disasters have doubled in the past two decades.

The agency’s new report outlines how the international community can collaborate to make sustainable investments that build resilience to future disasters and ease pressure on public finances.

Most of the damage caused by climate-related events is preventable, Ms. Kirsch-Wood stressed.

The challenge ahead, she said, is to “better align our financing systems” and “use public and private investment to make sure that we’re optimally reducing the burden on governments.”

Nearly 240 million people were internally displaced by disasters between 2014 and 2023.

China and the Philippines each reported over 40 million displaced persons, while India, Bangladesh and Pakistan saw numbers ranging from 10 to 30 million.

The steep costs associated with climate events – and the debt they generate – disproportionately affect developing countries and vulnerable populations.

UNDRR using CRED and UCLouvain, 2025.

Vulnerable hardest-hit

In 2023, North America recorded $69.57 billion in direct disaster-related losses – more than any other region – but this amounted to just 0.23 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

By contrast, Micronesia incurred only $4.3 billion in losses, but this represented a staggering 46.1 per cent of its GDP.

The UNDRR report “shows the eye-watering losses inflicted by disasters today, which hit vulnerable people the hardest… and it demonstrates that, on our current trajectory, costs will continue to mount as the climate crisis worsens,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

“But it also illustrates that, by boosting and sustaining investment in disaster risk reduction and prevention, we can slow that trend and reap economic benefits – saving lives and livelihoods while driving growth and prosperity to help reach our Sustainable Development Goals.”

Private sector role

Proven tools – such as flood protection infrastructure and early warning systems – can help the worst-affected nations curb the rising costs of climate-related disasters.

Increased investment in risk reduction and resilience can reverse current trends, said the head of UNDRR, Special Representative Kamal Kishore, citing the example of protection from overflowing rivers.

“When riverbank communities have access to scientific tools for land use planning, resources for building flood protection systems, and early warning systems, they not only reduce damages and losses from floods, but also create conditions for prosperity and sustainable growth in their communities,” he said.

The private sector, UNDRR emphasised, must also step up to “fill the protection gap that leaves many countries in a worsening spiral of repeated disasters.”

Thousands flee homes in Mozambique as conflict and disasters fuel worsening crisis

Posted on May 25, 2025 by Pallavi Guha

The latest displacement brings the total number of people uprooted by violence, cyclones and social unrest in Mozambique to nearly 1.3 million, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

The situation is particularly dire in Cabo Delgado province, where attacks by non-state armed groups continue to drive displacement, destroy infrastructure and disrupt recovery efforts.

“Thousands have lost their homes, many for the second or third time and are seeking safety in already overstretched communities,” Xavier Creach, UNHCR Representative in Mozambique told journalists at a regular news briefing in Geneva on Friday.

A ‘triple crisis’

Mr. Creach warned that the southeast African country is grappling with a “triple crisis” – armed conflict and displacement, recurring extreme weather events, and months of post-electoral unrest.

At the same time, extreme weather events – most recently Cyclone Jude in March – have devastated communities already hosting large numbers of displaced families. Food prices have surged by up to 20 per cent in some areas, compounding the strain on households and deepening the economic fragility in one of the world’s poorest countries.

The risks facing displaced people, particularly women and children, are severe. Protection concerns, including gender-based violence, family separation and limited access to documentation, are rising sharply.

According to UNHCR estimates, nearly 5.2 million people across the country require some form of humanitarian assistance.

Dwindling funds

In the challenging environment, UNHCR’s response is constrained by lack of funding with less than one-third of the $42.7 million funding appeal for the year met so far.

The agency warned that unless urgent support is mobilized, vital programmes will be at risk.

The broader UN humanitarian appeal, addressing other critical sectors such as nutrition and food security, health, water and sanitation, and education also faces severe shortages, having received only about 15 per cent of the required $352 million.

“A perfect storm is gathering. If we turn away now, the country will face a much larger humanitarian emergency,” Mr. Creach said.

“The crisis is unfolding now. We have a choice. We can act to prevent, support and protect – or we can sit on our hands.”

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Number of internally displaced breaks new record with no let-up in conflicts, disasters

Posted on May 14, 2025 by Pallavi Guha

“These figures are a clear warning: without bold and coordinated action, the number of people displaced within their own countries will continue to grow rapidly,” said Amy Pope, Director General of International Organization for Migration.

The recent rise in conflicts worldwide – particularly in Sudan, the Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Ukraine and Palestine has pushed millions more into displacement, adding to the tens of millions who already live in protracted displacement in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, Syria and Yemen.

Disasters surging

The number of displaced due to disasters has risen massively, climbing from last year’s 26.8 million to 45.8 million. “The number of disaster displacements in 2024 was nearly double the annual average of the past decade,” IOM said in a new report issued by the internal displacement monitoring centre (IDMC).

Almost 30 countries and territories have reported unprecedented disaster displacement – with cyclones accounting for more than one in two people forced from their homes. The United States alone makes up about one in four of those displaced globally by disasters.

With the frequency, intensity and duration of weather hazards continuously worsening owing to climate change, there is little to suggest that the trend will not continue.

“This report is a call for preventive action, to use data and other tools to anticipate displacement before it happens and for the humanitarian and development sectors to work together with governments to develop longer-term solutions to prevent displacement,” Ms. Pope stressed.

Conflict and violence

Displacement caused by conflict and violence remains high and continues to be a major cause for displacement, too – although it did decrease slightly in 2024, compared to the previous 12 months.

Over 20 million conflict-related displacements have been recorded and almost half of these stem from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“These latest numbers prove that internal displacement is not just a humanitarian crisis; it’s a clear development and political challenge that requires far more attention than it currently receives,” said Alexandra Bilak, director of IOM’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

“The cost of inaction is rising, and displaced people are paying the price,” she added.