The Global Assessment Report has praised small Pacific nations for improving their disaster response planning so markedly that fewer people should die when the next tsunami or cyclone hits.
But it warns economic losses related to the disasters are increasing across the globe, critically threatening the economies of small Pacific Island states.
The report says the 2009 Pacific tsunami cost Samoa $104 million, more than 5 percent of the country’s GDP, while the 2007 tsunami in Solomon Islands cost 90 percent of its annual budget.
The report has been released at this week’s regional disaster risk management conference in Auckland which intends to help Pacific nations develop a plan to cope with natural disaster and climate change.
The secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum says insurance against natural disasters might be possible on a regional scale if member countries wanted it.
Tuiloma Neroni Slade said disasters, like the 2009 earthquake and tsunami that impacted on Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, have very costly outcomes for those countries.
He said islands that are highly susceptible to cyclone damage are also highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. He told delegates at the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management in Auckland of the importance of being better prepared.
“It cost $150-$300 million perhaps for some of these countries. That’s an awful lot of money. And clearly they cannot do it alone. Often communities do not have insurance schemes and I doubt very much that many governments can arrange insurance coverage of that sort of magnitude.
“So yes I think this is a meeting where you can usefully look at the possibility of some insurance arrangement if possible, but it could only be done on a regional basis,” Slade said.
