The impacts and costs of these events are exacerbated by such factors as unplanned urbanization and degradation of ecosystem services. Reducing risk to, and improving the resilience of, water and sanitation services will be key to maintaining access during a climatically uncertain future.
ChallengesWater-related disasters pose both direct impacts (e.g. damage to buildings, crops and infrastructure, and loss of life and property) and indirect impacts (e.g. losses in productivity and livelihoods, increased investment risk, indebtedness and human health impacts).
The increasing economic cost and toll of disasters should be a significant incentive for governments and humanitarian organizations to focus more attention on preparedness, prevention and addressing the root causes of vulnerability.
OpportunitiesMeeting the challenges associated with water-related disasters requires investment in and implementation of good disaster risk-reduction. Despite improvements in preventive efforts, scaling these up to meet current and future needs remains a central challenge.
- Global Framework for Climate Services Office: Associated Programme on Flood Management
- Global Framework for Climate Services Office: International Drought Management Programme
- Global Water Institute (2013): Future water (in)security: facts, figures and predictions
- UN Environment: Water-related disasters
- UNESCO: Water-related disasters
- UNHCR (2017): Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2017
- UNISDR (2015): The human cost of weather related disasters
- UN World Water Development Report 2020: Water and Climate Change
- WMO: Disaster Risk Reduction Programme