The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Located along the boundary of major tectonic plates and at the centre of a typhoon belt, its more than 7,000 islands are frequently affected by typhoons, landslides, floods, earthquakes, droughts, and volcanic eruptions.
The Philippines deals with 20 typhoons on average annually. Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) was the most powerful typhoon in 2013 and the most powerful one of all time.
The Category 5 storm caused catastrophic damage to the Visayas group of islands, the country’s central region with a population of 17 million people. It killed close to 10,000 people and displaced more than 4 million people.
Climate change is predicted to make typhoons more intense and frequent, increasing the vulnerabilities in the Philippines, particularly in coastal areas.
Increasing loss and damage from typhoons, floods, and natural events and the slow onset of climate change will erode economic development in communities and escalate poverty.
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