"Disaster risk reduction has been identified as an important tool for reducing the impact of climate change in poor countries and communities," said UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction chef Margareta Wahlström. As a lead speaker at the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP-7) held in Vientiane, Laos she drew attention to the considerable economic and social costs of disasters and suggest the adoption of new measures to mitigate these costs and risks, reports Global Times.
Wahlström urged decision makers to consider the adoption of further measures to guard against the dangers of environmental disasters; to strengthen risk governance, encourage investment resilience and comprehensive disaster loss accountancy. She also asked parliamentarians to foster social demand for greater risk reduction and to focus on policy and legislation development.