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Can You Disaster-Proof an Economy?

How can politicians and aid agencies be persuaded to spend more money preparing to deal with natural disasters, rather than spending billions clearing up after the event?

What lessons should we learn from the damage hurricane Irma has inflicted on Florida and the Caribbean, the flooding hurricane Harvey wreaked on Texas and the floods that have devastated parts of South Asia? And how can politicians and aid agencies be persuaded to spend more money preparing for natural disasters, rather than clearing up after the event? Manuela Saragosa talks to one environmental planning expert in Houston, Texas, who says some parts of the city will become uninhabitable. And she hears from experts around the world on the best way to contain the economic damage of future natural disasters.

Contributors:
Jim Blackburn, Rice University, Houston
MB Akhter, Bangladesh Country Director for Oxfam
Tom Bamforth from Shelter Cluster
Ilan Noy, Professor at Victoria University in Wellington, holder of the inaugural Chair in the Economics of Disasters
Christina Bennett from the Overseas Development Institute

(Picture: People shop in a supermarket after Hurricane Irma swept through the area on September 13, 2017 in Naples, Florida. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sun 17 Sep 2017 14:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 16 Sep 2017 02:06GMT
  • Sat 16 Sep 2017 10:32GMT
  • Sat 16 Sep 2017 21:32GMT
  • Sat 16 Sep 2017 22:32GMT
  • Sun 17 Sep 2017 02:06GMT
  • Sun 17 Sep 2017 14:06GMT

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