EDITORIAL - Most at risk to disasters

Here’s another dubious distinction for the Philippines. For the third straight year, the country has topped the list of states most at-risk to extreme natural events and negative climate change.

The 2024 edition of the World Risk Report covers all 193 United Nations member states. The World Risk Index, prepared by the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict and Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft or Alliance Development Works, is based on 100 primary indicators.

This year the Philippines’ score even worsened slightly from 2023. At second worst spot was Indonesia, followed by India, Colombia, Mexico, Myanmar, Mozambique, the Russian Federation, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The index assesses each country’s exposure to natural hazards, the vulnerability of the population, and “the coping and adaptive capacities of societies.” The hazards include earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, cyclones, flooding and sea level rise. Assessing vulnerability includes a country’s ability to respond quickly and in the long term to natural disasters. Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft began publishing the report over a decade ago to serve as a guide for decision makers and identify “fields of action for disaster risk reduction.”

No country is immune to natural disasters. Countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia, which sit along the Pacific Ring of Fire of active volcanoes and earthquake faults, may seem more vulnerable, but the index also measures the response capability. Japan also sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire, but it is only at 24th place in the index.

Among Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam ranked 16th in terms of disaster risk; Thailand, 21st; Malaysia, 34th; Cambodia, 65th; Timor-Leste, 69th; Laos 117th and Brunei 169th. Singapore, at 186th spot, was the eighth least at risk to disasters among UN member states.

Improvements in disaster response and mitigation efforts are reflected in a country’s ranking. In the 2024 index, China improved to 22nd place from its 10th spot last year. In the Philippines, on the other hand, different agencies can’t even coordinate on an efficient way of communicating to the public the risks of heavy rainfall, flooding and landslide arising from monsoon-enhanced tropical cyclones.

Reacting to the latest World Risk Index, Environment Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga attributed the high exposure and vulnerability to disasters to the Philippines having “one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a steady population growth and declining poverty rate.” You wonder what officials are smoking in government. Little wonder that the Philippines keeps topping that list of countries most at risk.