Building Resilience: Why Disaster Prevention Deserves Global Attention

As international leaders prepare to gather for crucial economic discussions, there's an urgent conversation that needs to take centre stage: the escalating cost of disasters worldwide and what this means for developing nations like South Africa.

The numbers tell a sobering story. Over the past five decades, the global economic impact of disasters has nearly tripled. Recent assessments by international disaster risk agencies confirm that annual losses now exceed US$2 trillion when we account for cascading effects and environmental damage. These aren't abstract figures; they represent communities torn apart, businesses destroyed, and futures fundamentally altered.

From devastating floods and wildfires to prolonged droughts and violent storms, we're witnessing an increasingly unpredictable risk environment. The financial burden falls heavily on governments, communities, businesses, and the insurance sector, which helps societies rebuild. For South Africa and similar developing economies, the challenge is magnified by infrastructure vulnerabilities and socioeconomic inequalities that leave certain communities disproportionately exposed when disaster strikes.

This reality demands that disaster risk reduction become central to global economic conversations. We need coordinated international efforts, knowledge sharing, technology transfer, and capacity building to ensure developing nations aren't left behind. South Africa has long championed this approach, and the private sector holds tremendous potential to turn these principles into action.

For forward-thinking insurers, building resilience isn't just good business; it's a fundamental social responsibility. Over the past decade, innovative public-private partnerships have emerged across South Africa, strengthening disaster risk management at the municipal level through collaboration between government entities, state-owned enterprises, universities, and community organisations.

These initiatives have reached over 100 municipalities across the country, impacting more than 20 million South Africans. Programmes have trained thousands in disaster management and firefighting, educated hundreds of thousands of citizens about disaster awareness, and supported targeted interventions like flood defence systems, enhanced fire services, and critical stormwater maintenance projects.

One particularly successful pilot project in Ekurhuleni cleaned over 1,000 stormwater catchpits during 18 months, demonstrating how proactive maintenance can prevent disaster. Partnerships with weather services have also led to the installation of automatic weather stations in rural areas of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, providing real-time data that helps communities respond more rapidly to extreme weather events.

These successes prove that public-private partnerships can create a measurable impact. The model is now being adapted for expansion into neighbouring countries, recognising that resilience cannot be confined within borders, risk doesn't respect geography, and neither should our response.

Internationally, promising examples of cooperation are emerging. Global partnerships launched at major climate conferences bring together governments, businesses, and civil society to scale up climate and disaster risk finance solutions, with ambitious targets to protect hundreds of millions of vulnerable people worldwide.

South Africa's experience demonstrates what becomes possible when resilience is viewed as a shared investment rather than a cost. The same principle applies globally: every rand spent on prevention and preparedness saves many more in response and recovery. More importantly, it protects development gains and safeguards human dignity.

Resilience isn't built in boardrooms or at international summits; it's built in communities. It's built through protecting livelihoods, reinforcing infrastructure, and creating systems that allow people to recover from shocks stronger than before. The private sector has an essential role to play, but the task is fundamentally collective.

When disaster risk and resilience become central to global economic agendas, we don't just strengthen the world's capacity to withstand crises; we help secure a safer, more equitable, and sustainable future for everyone. For South Africa, this approach offers a pathway to greater stability and prosperity in an increasingly uncertain world.