UN/World Bank write that natural disaster costs set to rise sharply

Dear Colleagues

In a new report titled "Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention" the UN/World Bank write that natural disasters are going to cost a lot more. This is from an IRIN news item http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?Reportid=91064. The text of this news item is below.

There is something very bothersome about the reports that come out of the UN and the World Bank. In some ways they are simply objectives studies ... and in another way they are terrible indictments of the performance of global leadership, of which they are an important part.

One way to interpret the findings that get published in UN and World Bank reports is to conclude that these organizations are a big part of the reason why the findings are the way they are. The fact that natural disaster costs are set to rise sharply is that these organizations ... and the other organizations associated with natural disaster recovery are incredibly badly managed and have extremely high cost operations largely associated with high salaries, high operational costs and low efficiency.

High salaries, high operational costs and low efficiency are a result of years and years of work without any significant management controls. The UN and the World bank advise ... but like the cobbler of old, they do not mend their own shoes! The management systems in the UN and the World Bank would have looked modern in the stone age ... but that is about it.

True Value Metrics is a response to the missing management information dimension of the international relief and development sector ... and to the lack of metrics in the society we live in. We know a lot about corporate performance and the stock market ... we know rather little about performance of economic activities and society. This needs to change, and we hope that True Value Metrics can be a step towards a way better use of resources in our society.

This report is another call to action to change the status quo where high costs produce little far too little impact ... and nobody seems to be responsible for anything. The UN and the World Bank are responsible parties in the prevailing high costs and low performance in the international relief and development arena!

In Brief: Natural disaster costs set to rise sharply - new report

Costs because of more intense and frequent cyclones will mount
Johannesburg, 11 November 2010 (IRIN) - A new report by the World Bank and the UN says the cost of coping with natural disasters could triple to US$185 billion per year by the end of the century.

The report - compiled mainly by economists over two years - said the projection did not include climate change impact costs. But added more frequent and intense tropical cyclones because of climate change could raise total costs by an additional $28-$68 billion a year by 2100.

Entitled Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention, the report makes four main policy suggestions to governments: make information more easily accessible to prevent disasters; permit land and housing markets to function; provide adequate infrastructure and public services; help develop effective oversight institutions.

Meanwhile, donors need to focus more on prevention: “About a fifth of total humanitarian aid between 2000 and 2008 was devoted to spending on disaster relief and response" but far less was spent on prevention, it said.

jk/cb