Unbreakable Building the Resilience of the Poor in the Face of Natural Disasters

Hallegatte, Stephane/ Vogt-Schilb, Adrien/ Bangalore, Mook/ Rozenberg, Julie

ISBN 10: 1464810036 / ISBN 13: 9781464810039

Published by World Bank, 2016

About this Item

1st edition. 187 pages. 10.00x7.00x0.75 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-1464810036

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Unbreakable Building the Resilience of the Poor in the Face of Natural Disasters
• Publisher: World Bank
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1464810036
• ISBN 13: 9781464810039
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.53 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

'Economic losses from natural disasters totaled $92 billion in 2015.' Such statements, all too commonplace, assess the severity of disasters by no other measure than the damage inflicted on buildings, infrastructure, and agricultural production. But $1 in losses does not mean the same thing to a rich person that it does to a poor person; the gravity of a $92 billion loss depends on who experiences it. By focusing on aggregate losses―the traditional approach to disaster risk―we restrict our consideration to how disasters affect those wealthy enough to have assets to lose in the first place, and largely ignore the plight of poor people. This report moves beyond asset and production losses and shifts its attention to how natural disasters affect people’s well-being. Disasters are far greater threats to well-being than traditional estimates suggest. This approach provides a more nuanced view of natural disasters than usual reporting, and a perspective that takes fuller account of poor people’s vulnerabilities. As climate change magnifies natural hazards, and because protection infrastructure alone cannot eliminate risk, a more resilient population has never been more critical to breaking the cycle of disaster-induced poverty.