A new article on PreventionWeb underscores the urgent call by global disaster risk reduction experts to shift the focus from reactive disaster relief to proactive resilience funding. Titled “Fund resilience, not disasters: Why risk reduction is the future of insurability,” the piece highlights growing concerns over the financial and humanitarian toll of increasingly frequent and severe natural catastrophes.
Experts from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and other global agencies stress that current models of disaster response—primarily driven by insurance payouts and aid after a crisis—are unsustainable in the face of climate change and escalating risk. The report argues that without systemic investments in prevention, adaptation, and community-based resilience, both the affordability and availability of insurance will continue to decline.
The article highlights that only 4% of total disaster-related funding currently goes toward risk reduction. This underinvestment, experts argue, makes vulnerable communities more exposed and overwhelms governments and insurers alike.
To safeguard the future of insurability, stakeholders—including governments, insurers, and development agencies—must shift their strategies to support risk-informed planning, urban resilience, infrastructure reinforcement, and early warning systems. The message is clear: build resilience today to avoid unmanageable disasters tomorrow.
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