The natural disasters cause huge amounts of economic damage each year, most of which is uninsured. Also, there is a massive discrepancy between different regions across the world regarding the degree of economic loss caused by catastrophes and how much is covered by insurance.
Between 1980 – 2015, the catastrophes inflicted USD 840 billion of economic losses on the EMEA Region, with only USD 195 billion covered by insurance, shows a recent study conducted by a leading international reinsurance broker. Therefore, there is a significant disparity in the economic – to – insured loss values of about USD 645 billion within this region.
Also, climate change-related natural disasters will put 1.3 billion people and EUR 139.49 trillion assets at risk by 2020, according to the World Bank. A report published by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, a division of the bank, says the extent of the risk is high because the world is not well prepared to tackle the threats.
Urging cities to plan ahead for such disasters, before it is too late, the report highlights that the total damages such disasters had caused in recent decades have greatly increased.