The river that runs through the city of Recife in Brazil used to frequently break its banks, flooding the homes and businesses that border it.
This included the area of Sapo Nú, an informal settlement with tightly packed alleys and limited sanitation and waste-collection systems. Each time the river flooded, homes and businesses were damaged, disease spread and lives were lost.
Across the world, challenges such as these do not affect us all in the same way. Having wealth often means having a stronger, safer home located further from the risks, money in the bank and insurance policies for emergencies.
But people living in poverty have far fewer resources to help them withstand and recover from disasters. They may have less access to government support to rebuild or relocate. And they might have to choose between spending money on life-saving healthcare or protecting themselves from a life-threatening flood.
Broken system
Disasters are symptoms and consequences of the way that societies and governments organise and distribute available resources within and across regions. This is known as the economic system.
The current global economic system is broken. It is causing pollution and environmental damage, and increasing inequality by preventing many people from accessing the resources they need. As a result, more and more people are being affected by disasters each year.
If we are to reduce the number of disasters, and the scale of their impact, we need to shape a fairer, safer world where each of us can meet our basic needs and where no one has too much or too little. A world where what we have is not at the expense of others, or the natural world.