Prevention and Preparedness Can Substantially Reduce Impact of Disasters

While not all disasters can be avoided, effective planning and preparedness can help mitigate their impact.

These are among the key findings from Learning from Megadisasters, a joint report by the World Bank Group and the Government of Japan released today that focuses on the disaster and risk management lessons learned from Japan’s megadisaster: the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. This was the first disaster ever recorded that included an earthquake, a tsunami, a nuclear power plant accident, a power supply failure, and a large-scale disruption of supply chains – with global consequences for several industries.

The report was launched at University College London (UCL) in London.

Over the last 30 years, natural disasters are estimated to have caused $4 trillion in economic losses. Poor communities are often hit the hardest and take the longest to recover from disasters. The report points out that, given the prospect of more extreme weather events, the world must shift from a tradition of response to a culture of prevention and resilience.

Alongside the report, University College London (UCL) and the World Bank Group’s Leadership, Learning and Innovation Vice Presidency launched a new research project, ‘Learning from Crisis,’ based on the report and going beyond natural disasters to consider financial crises, crime and security and other crises scenarios. The research will be conducted in cities to see how city leaders learn from disasters and how they incorporate this learning into future planning