2016 World Risk Report

DW: 'Infrastructure can drive up disaster vulnerability' says UN climate expert

Collapsed bridges, unsafe power grids, interrupted water supply: Weak infrastructure can turn natural hazards into disasters. In an interview with DW, UN expert Matthias Garschagen talks about the 2016 World Risk Report.

Each year, the World Risk Report (WRR) and its World Risk Index (WRI) analyze vulnerability of over 170 countries to natural hazards. They do so to identify disaster hotspots and risk indicators. The United Nations University's Institute for Environment and Human Security publishes the report jointly with German NGO Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft and in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart.

Now in its sixth edition, the annual report and index highlight several key areas: level of exposure (likelihood of a natural disaster), vulnerability (level of susceptibility), how well a society can cope (resilience) and what preventive measures can be taken.

DW spoke to scientific lead Matthias Garschagen about the newest developments and why a reliable infrastructure is vital to a country's capacity to cope with hazards. The interview was conducted by Anke Rasper.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The 2016 World Risk report is here.