PH is tops in world risk report, says Legarda
The Philippines ranks the highest in terms of disaster risk among 193 countries covering 99 percent of the world’s population, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda said on Wednesday, Oct. 12.
“A country like the Philippines, which does not only belong to the top 10 vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, but is now also found to be the number one disaster risk country worldwide, this poses a major concern for us. This must serve as an urgent call to act now,” Legarda said upon learning of the new WorldRiskIndex Report 2022.
Legarda said countries in the top 10 of the WorldRiskIndex list include India, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, Myanmar, Mozambique, China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
The report assessed countries based on risk, exposure, vulnerability, susceptibility, coping capacities, and adaptive capacities.
As a nation of many small islands, situated along the typhoon belt, the Philippines is one of the countries vulnerable to extreme weather events.
Tens of thousands of lives were lost during the last decade which saw the occurrence of seven of the deadliest and costliest typhoons in Philippine history. Data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) revealed that damage to crops and structures reached P240 billion.
“We care deeply about the lives of our people and the well-being of our nation. We have been perennial witnesses to the vulnerability of our communities to disasters and the prevalence of risks throughout the country, not only from the impact of hazards but also from human-induced disasters,” Legarda said.
For a vulnerable country like the Philippines, the aftermath of disasters turbo-charged by climate change weather of recent years, as well as the projected climate change impacts, have given a glimpse of a future in a rapidly warming world.
"We can break the cycle of destruction and reconstruction by assessing and understanding our risk, exposure and vulnerability,” Legarda pointed out.
"We must effectively address these at the national and local levels. Our primary goal must be to enhance the resilience of our communities and reduce potential loss and damage," she added.
The World Risk Report is published annually by Bundnis Entwicklung Hilft and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, and has been in circulation since 2011.