Asean plans to improve nat cat response following Typhoon Tembin

The Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) is to accelerate its plan to develop systems to help its member states respond better to natural disasters following the destruction caused by Typhoon Tembin. The regional trading bloc made the announcement in the wake of the typhoon which made landfall in the southern Philippines on 22 December and caused widespread damage, including 180 fatalities. Since the Asean announcement, a volcano eruption in the Albay province of the Philippines, 340km southeast of Manila, has sent thousands of villagers scrambling for safety with authorities warning of more hazardous eruptions in the following days and weeks and ordering an evacuation of all schools and towns within 11km of the volcano. Asean has ten regular members including the Philippines. A number of countries in the region are located in areas vulnerable to natural calamities such as cyclones and earthquakes. “The Asean Secretariat and the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre) reaffirm our commitment to ensure the safety and well-being of the people during such time of suffering — the end goal as envisaged in the Asean Declaration on One Asean One Response,” stated Asean secretary general Dato Lim Jock Hoi. The One Asean One Response declaration was made in September 2016 and was hailed as “a major step for the Asean community” and a reaffirmation of the region’s “readiness to achieve faster and collective response to disasters” by then-secretary general H. E. Luong Minh. However, the most recent statement from the trade body suggests that the promise of the 2016 declaration has not yet translated into operations. Secretary general Mr Lim said the mechanism to send humanitarian relief and assistance would be operational in the future. “The landfall of tropical storm Tembin is one of many reminders of how development in the region remains susceptible to unprecedented risks,” he said. “It is therefore incumbent upon us all to enhance the resilience of our communities through disaster risk reduction interventions, climate change-adaptation strategies, as well as conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and natural resources.” The Philippines also has its own resources for dealing with the recovery from natural disasters. In 2015, it established a climate change fund of $1.7m to help municipalities plan for climate change adaptation and disaster risk management and reduction. However, given the scale of the damage caused by Typhoon Tembin, which affected 168,129 families in 1,153 villages according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of the Philippines, help will be needed from the Asean bloc and beyond. It is not yet known what the cost of the Philippines disaster will be for insurers but the aftermath of the Typhoon and the international effort required for the clean-up is likely to reopen the issue of the growing protection gap: the difference between uninsured and insured losses. Global reinsurer Swiss Re estimates that this gap is at least $180bn for weather-related risks alone and much of it emanates from Asia where countries such as the Philippines have low insurance penetration and a high vulnerability to natural disasters. Bodies such as the Insurance Development Forum, chaired by former XL Catlin executive deputy chairman Stephen Catlin, have been established to try and promote greater insurance adoption in emerging regions and developing economies.

Asean plans to improve nat cat response following Typhoon Tembin

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