This paper explores the burden of natural disasters on the Pacific Island Countries (PICs).

It tabulates and measures the burden of disasters by aggregating and comparing the data found in global datasets on disaster impacts. It argues that the most commonly used dataset greatly underestimates the burden of disasters for the Pacific islands. Next, a new index is described which aggregates disaster impacts, calculates this index for the PICs, and then compares the burden of disasters for the island countries of the Pacific with the island countries of the Caribbean. Lastly, the paper discusses the evidence regarding the future impact of climatic change in the Pacific on the region’s disaster burden.

[Adapted from source]