THE 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction calls for two actions to increase funding for DRR in public and international budgets, and to ensure all development and private investments are risk-informed and resilient.

Countries around the world are increasingly facing severe natural events, driven by extreme weather and risk-blind planning. They are exploring various ways to reduce disaster risks and to raise funds to rehabilitate disaster-affected areas as independently as possible. In this context, the rising cost of disasters reflects both the growing impact of climate change and the consequences of poor development choices.

To address this, national strategies must integrate DRR and climate adaptation. Governments should empower the private sector with regulations, risk data, and incentives to pro­mote resilient investments. At this juncture, a major issue is that both public and private economic strategies often ig­nore disaster risks. The pri­vate sector, which controls 75 per cent of investments, frequently overlooks climate threats, increasing vulnerabil­ity and potential losses.

While direct disaster costs reach around $202 billion annually, the broader econom­ic impact is estimated at $2.3 trillion. Developing countries suffer the most, while wealthi­er countries face high financial losses. Despite this, invest­ment in disaster risk reduction remains minimal. Less than 1 per cent of public budgets are allocated to DRR, and only 2 per cent of Official Devel­opment Assistance projects included DRR goals between 2019 and 2023. Humanitarian funding for preparedness is also declining, according to the United Nations.

The 2025 theme for In­ternational Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) is “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters”. This theme emphasizes the need for a decisive shift in global investment from reactive disaster response to proactive risk reduction, urging increased public and private sector funding for resilience-building to prevent greater costs from future disasters.

On the other hand, necessary organizations, such as rescue squads, should be established to conduct timely search and rescue operations, as well as relief and rehabilitation efforts, whenever a disaster strikes. Moreover, public awareness of disaster risk reduction should be promoted so that people understand how to respond during disasters and carry out appropriate actions in their aftermath.

In fact, there are two key components in addressing disasters: the government must manage funds to strengthen disaster resil­ience and reduce risks for both the people and the nation, while the public must strictly follow the directives and recommendations of local authorities and relevant departments regarding climatic conditions. By doing so, both the government and the people can more effectively overcome the challenges posed by disaster risks.