Preparing for the next crisis - before it's too late

The author advocates for a shift from reactive crisis management to proactive investment in disaster preparedness, citing high benefit-to-cost ratios for climate adaptation and the critical role of early-warning systems and local empowerment in saving lives.

• Investing in climate-adaptation provides significant economic returns, with benefit-to-cost ratios estimated between 2:1 and 10:1 according to the Global Commission on Adaptation.
• The financial cost of inaction is extreme; while building climate resilience may cost $140-300 billion annually by 2030, damages from climate change could reach $69 trillion by 2100 if temperatures increase by 2˚C.
• Failure to act on disaster preparedness could significantly increase the number of people requiring international humanitarian aid due to floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires, potentially rising from 108 million currently to 200 million by 2050.
• Early-warning systems are highly cost-effective; providing 24 hours' notice of a storm or heat wave can reduce losses by 30%, and an $800 million investment in such systems for developing countries could yield annual savings of $3-16 billion.
• Effective disaster response requires empowering local communities and organizations, as seen during Cyclone Amphan where the Bangladesh Red Crescent provided essential supplies and COVID-19 safety measures to 20,000 vulnerable people.

APA

Chapagain, J. (2020). Preparing for the next crisis - before it's too late. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/disaster-preparedness-government-policymakers/

Chicago

Chapagain, Jagan. Preparing for the next crisis - before it's too late. World Economic Forum, 2020. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/disaster-preparedness-government-policymakers/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Chapagain |first1=Jagan |title=Preparing for the next crisis - before it's too late |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=6 July 2020 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/disaster-preparedness-government-policymakers/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{chapagain2020preparing, author = {Chapagain, Jagan}, title = {{Preparing for the next crisis - before it's too late}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/disaster-preparedness-government-policymakers/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }