UN Warns World Unprepared for Escalating Climate Disasters ⚠️

The United Nations has issued a stark warning that the world is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events, with current systems, financing, and infrastructure falling short of handling the accelerating pace of climate-related disasters. • Global Preparedness Gap: UN Resident Coordinator Marc-André Franche stated that despite more frequent and intense extreme weather, global and national preparedness has not kept pace. He emphasized that the world will suffer many more disasters in the coming years and decades. • Shrinking Aid & Competition: Nations are struggling with overlapping crises while global humanitarian financing shrinks due to governments diverting budgets to domestic priorities. Sri Lanka faces stiff competition for international aid as countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand also grapple with simultaneous climate disasters, alongside major humanitarian crises elsewhere. • Call for Climate-Resilient Development: Franche urged governments, including Sri Lanka, to use post-disaster recovery as a turning point to rebuild stronger, safer, and climate-smart infrastructure rather than replicating past vulnerabilities. • Avoid High-Risk Areas: The UN asserts the need for climate-resilient rebuilding and avoiding resettlement in historically flood-prone or high-risk areas. Proactive investment in protection measures, like along the Kelani River, is crucial and cheaper than repeated post-disaster relief.