DEZASTRELE NATURALE ÎN CONTEXTUL DEZVOLTĂRII GLOBALE
ABSTRACT. - Natural Disasters in the Context of Global Development. Natural disasters are intimately connected to the processes of economic and human development, since they put development gains at risk. At the same time, the development choices made by communities and nations can pave way for unequal distribution of disaster risk. About 75% of the world’s population live in areas affected by at least once between 1980 and 2000 by a natural disaster. Through quantitative analysis and documented evidence, each nation may identify and promote development policy alternatives that contribute to reducing disaster risk. In this respect, physical exposure and human vulnerability are key-terms in the equation of the disaster risk, which synthetically expresses the pressure of natural disasters on national or global processes of development. The impact of disasters on the process of development is assessed against the total economic and human losses due to the disasters, but in the context of global development, greater emphasis is put on building human capabilities to be resilient in the face of hazard stress and shock. The complex interactions between disasters and development can open not only political space for alternative forms of recovering the losses, but also for new development priorities.