The protection gap. The economic and social impact of disasters is increasing all around the world. In 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria were so destructive as they swept through the Caribbean that they decimated many of these small island economies.
Even in a wealthy country like the USA, the economic impact of these natural disasters was enormous. In recent years, earthquakes dealt a blow to Mexico, France saw the worst rains in 50 years with floods peaking in Paris, typhoons and storms shook the Philippines and Hong Kong, and wild res ravaged California and Australia.
Yet, the economic losses from such disasters are underinsured. In what is known as the protection gap, some 70% of global losses from natural catastrophes are not insured, equating to $1.3 trillion over the past 10 years. In 2017 alone, uninsured losses for weather-related disasters were estimated to be around $180 billion. At the same time, other forms of large-scale risk, such as terrorism, cyberattacks and pandemics are also increasing, with little financial protection to address the aftermath.
The report has been written by Professor Paula Jarzabkowski, Dr Konstantinos Chalkias, Dr Eugenia Cacciatori and Dr Rebecca Bednarek.
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