Countries are stepping up emergency planning amid geopolitical tensions, rising urbanisation and increasingly severe weather, a disaster risk expert has said.
Niels Holm-Nielsen, practice manager of the World Bank-managed Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), said rich and poor states alike were trying to shield themselves from “potential future shocks”, particularly natural hazards.
Demographic change and rapid urbanisation are amplifying the impact of natural disasters, with many cities expanding faster than infrastructure and government systems can cope, Mr Holm-Nielsen told The National on the sidelines of the Murona Forum in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
“Now we live in geopolitical moments where disasters materialise more frequently, and we are seeing a growing interest from countries around the world to improve their
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