Theme of the day: Fund resilience, not disasters
Countries are facing more record-breaking disasters. This is driven by an increase in extreme weather events and by development decisions that are not risk-informed, which increases the exposure and vulnerability of people and economic assets to a range of hazards.
At the same time, investments in disaster risk reduction (DRR) have not kept pace with increasing disaster risks. This was one of the key findings from the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and a reason why many countries have been unable to reduce disaster impacts.
Adding to the problem, most economic and investment plans remain blind to disaster risks. This is especially common in the private sector, which is responsible for about 75% of investments through the creation of economic assets.
The 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction emphasizes the following two key calls to action:
- Increase funding for disaster risk reduction, within public budgets and international assistance.
- Ensure all public development and private sector investments are risk-informed and resilient.
Play and learn to stop disasters
By funding resilience now, we avoid paying for disasters later. This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, use the Stop Disasters game to learn about the clear, visible benefits of investing in mitigation and adaptation. From tsunami to wildfire, explore five hazard scenarios to see the opportunities provided by funding resilience - and the cost of inaction.
Youth foresight sprint: Investing in resilient futures’
To celebrate the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 (IDDRR), UNDRR in collaboration with UNU called on universities to participate in our ‘Youth Foresight Sprint: Investing in Resilient Futures’ to create national foresight scenarios to illustrate how the future related to specific risks or cascades of risks could look like.
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Facts and figures (GAR 2025)
- Total disaster costs are now exceeding $2.3 trillion annually when indirect and ecosystem impacts are included.
- The number of people exposed to floods globally has also steadily risen from 28.1 million in 1970 to 35.1 million in 2020—an increase of 24.9%. Most flood-related deaths and economic losses are recorded in Asia.
- If all of the countries across the Central America committed to ensuring that all new buildings complied with seismic safety standards, preliminary estimates suggest that around USD 1.1 billion in annual losses could be averted.
- In the decade to 2017, drought affected at least 1.5 billion people and cost USD 125 billion globally. The number of recorded droughts has increased by 29 per cent over the past 20 years.
- Average annual losses from tropical cyclones alone are estimated at USD 119.5 billion, including USD 95.5 billion in infrastructure.
Benefits of resilience
- Resilience pays dividends, but only when countries invest in it.
- Every $1 invested in making infrastructure disaster-resilient in developing countries saves $4 in economic impacts (World Bank).
- By investing in strengthening early warning systems, the Global Commission on Adaptation found that early warnings, issued within 24 hours of an impending hazard, can reduce the damage by around 30%.
- Investments in anticipatory action and enhancing social safety nets can help communities bounce back swiftly after disasters.
- Investing in resilience has benefits across the Humanitarian-Development nexus – it reduces disaster losses, protects development, and reduces humanitarian needs.
How to fund resilience
- Increase funding for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in national budgets and international assistance (development and humanitarian).
- Domestic funding for disaster risk reduction should be “ring-fenced” in national budgets and mainstreamed into sectoral budgets. Tools such as budget tagging and the development of national DRR financing strategies can help.
- Countries with high vulnerability to disasters, such as the Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States, countries in Africa, and countries that are fragile and conflict-affected, deserve increased international assistance.
- Ensure development is risk-informed
- Development plans should be aligned with disaster risk reduction priorities. Otherwise, development investments that are risk-blind could lead to the creation of new disaster risks or exacerbate existing ones, thus increasing the odds of a disaster.
- Encourage the private sector to be resilient.
- Businesses should be incentivised to ensure their investments are risk-informed, as they are responsible for the majority of development in countries.
- The financial sector can develop instruments for financing resilience, such as bonds and insurance, and support government efforts through public-private partnerships and blended finance.
