Resilient financing: the economic costs of natural disasters, the case study of 2014 floods in Serbia
Investment in the prevention of disasters can have remarkable eff ects on avoiding loss of life and reducing human tragedy. Beyond the eff ect that investment in disaster prevention has on a humanitarian scale (effects which are seldom captured in economic analyses),such investments can also provide considerable economic benefits and cost savings to host countries which would otherwise be saddled with increased expenditures post-disaster. This report is focused on the case of the floods that hit Serbia in May 2014, to devastating effect, and analyzes statistical data to compare expenditures on prevention with expenditures on response and recovery in the country as it recovered.
The floods of May 2014 made evident a number of vulnerabilities of the Serbian population and economy. For strengthening the Serbian DRM system, the report formulates some recommendations :
- Engage in multi-hazard risk assessment, mapping and monitoring, and promote risk-informed urban planning and land management to avoid locating homes and production activities in flood-prone areas
- Increase the scope of funds both for maintenance and rehabilitation of the existing system of protection and also for implementation of new works and measures
- Increase financial resilience by promoting disaster risk financing strategies, including disaster risk transfer and insurance, and introducing ex-ante financing mechanisms.
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