Opportunity or catastrophe: Time to choose

Emily Hough talks to Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction at the UN Offi ce for Disaster Risk Reduction, about breaking disaster cycles, future risks and the need to focus on prevention. Poverty is one of the biggest vulnerabilities, illustrated by the so-called competition to vaccinate against Covid-19. “Because of the risk connectivity across the whole planet, we are only as strong as the weakest link,” says Mizutori. “So we have to make sure that those in vulnerable countries have access to both the vaccine and the recovery dividend.

Understanding risk is not just about attempting to break down disaster complexity and interconnections in a granular way, it is more about understanding the risk that surrounds us, she continues. “Of course, it is complex, it is indeed interconnected, and it isn’t going away,” Mizutori explains. “But disaster is a combination of a hazard, exposure and vulnerability. When you have a level 5 cyclone in an area with no buildings or people, it is not a disaster; it only becomes a disaster when there is building exposure and the building is fragile, so it is damaged and people are killed. Then it’s a disaster.”