Category:

Disaster & Management

Heavy rains in Australia’s east bring worst floods in 50 years

“Yesterday, we were hoping it will only be a one-in-20-year event, now it looks like a one-in-50-year event,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a televised briefing. People in parts of Sydney’s northwest were ordered to flee their houses in the middle of the night as fast-moving waters caused widespread destruction. Late on Sunday, about another 1,000 people were asked to evacuate, after Berejiklian said that some 4,000 people may be asked to leave their houses.

read more

Natural disasters occurring three times more often than 50 years ago: new FAO report

The least developed and low to middle income countries have fared worst of all. From 2008 to 2018, natural disasters have cost the agricultural sectors of developing economies more than $108 billion in damaged crop and livestock production.

Over the same period, Asia was the most hard-hit region, with overall economic losses of $49 billion, followed by Africa at $30 billion, and Latin America and the Caribbean at $29 billion.

read more

63 nations to see ratings downgrades by 2030 for ignoring climate change

The U.S. is projected to lose 20 per cent of its per-capita gross domestic product by 2050 in a worst-case scenario, with nations closer to the equator or with high-carbon economies even more vulnerable, according to the FTSE Russell report.

Malaysia could see the worst economic hit at 31 per cent. The projections, based on trends of greenhouse-gas emissions and countries’ mitigation efforts, show the risk for investors of long-term bets on sovereign bonds.

read more

HDFC ERGO Gen launches cover to protect  balance sheet of MFIs, FIs and banks against natural disasters

Over the past few years, rising natural calamities such as floods and cyclone, have impacted the livelihoods of people residing in these calamity-prone areas. Moreover, such calamities also severely impact the lending businesses in these areas. Business Kisht Suraksha aims to address these concerns by indemnifying against these climatic changes whilst also protecting financial institutions from rising NPAs occurring due to the impact of natural disasters, explained Anurag Rastogi, Chief Actuary & Chief Underwriting Officer, HDF ERGO General Insurance

read more

Why world’s power grids are increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks

“Essential state infrastructures like power grids and nuclear reactors have been and will continue to be a target of cyber attacks because modernization allows internet connectivity, which makes them vulnerable,” said Kim Seungjoo, a professor at Korea University’s School of Cybersecurity.

“It’s almost a natural instinct of hackers, especially the state-sponsored ones, to attack energy infrastructure because they can easily disrupt national security.”

read more

International Conference On Disaster Resilient Infrastructure  to be held from 17 – 19 March 

ICDRI 2021 is a three-day interactive virtual conference • It will be held from 17 – 19 March 2021 • Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is scheduled to make the inaugural speech for the event • ICDRI 2021 constitutes of a virtual exhibition – Marketplace • Online courses are being offered before, during and after the conference via Masterclass Register Now https://icdri.cdri.world/Register.html

read more

Extreme weather events put $84 billion of Indian bank debt at risk

The banks flagged exposure to environmentally sensitive businesses including cement, coal, oil and power. They also listed the effects of cyclones and floods on loan repayments in farming and related sectors. Lenders accounted for 87% of the total risk, valued at about $97 billion, across 67 top Indian companies that responded to CDP.

read more