OZAMIZ CITY: Senator Loren Legarda underscored
the need for stronger disaster management efforts to be ready for more frequent
and intense tropical storms that may hit the country this year.
The senator issued the statement
following the release of the Global Risk Index 2015, which showed that among
160 countries, the Philippines is most affected by extreme weather conditions,
such as intense floods, droughts and fiercer typhoons in 2013.
Legarda said past tragedies such as
the tragic loss of lives and properties brought by Super Typhoon Haiyan, should
serve as lesson to all of us to make our communities safer and more prepared
for disasters.
“We have to prepare for the worst
natural hazards through information campaign, distribution of geo-hazard maps,
strict enforcement of land use regulations, acquisition of state-of-the-art
weather and geophysical equipment and facilities, relocation of vulnerable
communities and more importantly, development of green technology and resource
efficiency programs,” she stressed.
She added, “While it is true that
extreme weather is now the ‘new normal’, we must ensure that past disasters and
tragedies will not happen again in the future.”
The Global Climate Risk Index 2015,
published by Germany-based environmental think tank Germanwatch, is an analysis
based on one of the most reliable data sets available on the impacts of extreme
weather events and associated socio-economic data.
It aims to contextualize ongoing
climate policy debates with real-world impacts of the last year and the last 20
years.
Launched in December 2014 during
the two-week United Nations climate change talks in Peru, the study highlighted
the impact of extreme weather events in 2013, such as the magnitude of Super
Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, which inflicted over $13 billion in economic
loss and more than 6,000 deaths. (Michael
medina)