The last couple years have been filled with news of disasters around the world, with an estimate 10,000 lives lost and $280 billion in damages in 2021 and 2022 so far, and no sign of things slowing down, according to the UN University Institute. With these big numbers, there’s also been an increase in pressure on governments and industry to find solutions that will save both lives and money. To help those efforts, a new Interconnected Disaster Risks report from the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) has found many of the distinct disasters that caused catastrophes around the world have common root causes.
The report looked at not just the type of disaster, but also the conditions that may have contributed to it, considering environmental, political, and economic actions. Says Dr. Zita Sebesvari, deputy director of UNU-EHS and lead-author on the study, “Disasters occurring in completely different parts of the world at first appear disconnected from each other. But when you start analyzing them in more detail it quickly becomes clear that they are caused by the same things, for example greenhouse gas emissions or unsustainable consumption.”
In producing the report, the authors also considered the potentially interconnected nature of solutions too, looking into various changes which could be made to help control threats and minimize damage and loss of life, pointing to such options as looking to nature to help minimize the risk of floods by restoring rivers and streams in urban areas, or reducing the severity of fires by performing controlled burns in forests.
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