ASEAN Leaders To Discuss Ways To Mitigate Disaster Impacts

MANILA, Sept 14 (Bernama-PNA) -- Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to discuss how the 11-country bloc can translate regional and global disaster resilience commitments into implementation during the two-day ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience (AMCDR) to be held from Sept 15 in Manila, the Philippine News Agency reported.

Officials will tackle disaster risk reduction, preparedness, anticipatory action, emergency response, recovery, financing, innovation, and whole-of-society resilience, a news release posted on ASEAN 2026 Sunday night showed.

AMCDR is a flagship event of the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN Chairmanship and is designed to address one of the region's most persistent and costly challenges: exposure to disaster.

The news release explained that the region “sits within the Asia-Pacific, the most disaster-prone region in the world”; thus, the challenges being faced by each member country include “typhoons, floods, earthquakes, droughts, and extreme weather intensified by climate change.”

These hazards, it said, “increasingly interact with rapid urbanisation, environmental degradation, and other pressures, creating systemic, cascading, and compounding risks.”

It noted that “the stakes extend beyond any single disaster” since the region “represents one of the world’s most dynamic economic regions, with a combined gross domestic product exceeding US$3.6 trillion and a population of more than 670 million.”

“As a major hub for global trade, manufacturing and investment, disaster disruptions can ripple through supply chains and markets far beyond Southeast Asia. Strengthening disaster resilience is therefore essential to sustainable development, economic security and regional stability,” it said.

-- BERNAMA-PNA