08-04-2025
UAE: Over 1.5 billion will be affected by disasters by 2030, top official warns
More than 1.5 billion people will be affected by disasters by the year 2030, a top UAE crisis management official has warned, calling on global stakeholders to act urgently and collectively before the world reaches a tipping point.
'Waiting is not a luxury - and luxury does not come to those who wait, but to those who act,' said Saif Al Dhaheri, Director of the National Operations Centre at the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA). Al Dhaheri was speaking during the World Crisis and Management Summit (WCEMS) at the UAE capital on Tuesday.
As the frequency and intensity of global threats grow, technology is expected to play an increasingly vital role in mitigating impact and enhancing preparedness. Al Dhaheri said that by 2030, 'seventy per cent of crisis and disaster leadership decisions will be supported by artificial intelligence.'
By 2050, 70 per cent of the world's population will be living in cities threatened by climate-related disasters, while autonomous and unmanned aircraft for disaster response are projected to increase twentyfold by 2028, he added. By 2040, he said 90 per cent of the global population will live within range of a 'real-time risk detection network', highlighting a dramatic shift from reactive to anticipatory crisis management.
Looking back at the origins of catastrophic events, Al Dhaheri said disasters often begin subtly yet the cost of inaction can be global. 'Every major crisis began as a small dot, barely visible to the naked eye… the issue is not the size of the dot, but in ignoring it until it grows into a sweeping, cross-border global crisis.'
He cited the Black Plague in the Middle Ages, a time when humanity lacked the tools to respond effectively to health emergencies. 'There were no early warning systems, no public health institutions, and no emergency plans - only fear, helplessness, and death.' Despite the devastation, the catastrophe marked a turning point in human consciousness. 'Societies realised that survival does not come from chaos, but from planning, science, and preparedness.'
Today, the world possesses knowledge, data, and advanced tools to detect and respond to crises, but only if nations act decisively and collaboratively. 'We are the generation carrying an agenda from the past and a responsibility to build safety for the future,' Al Dhaheri said, urging swift, strategic, science-based planning. He stressed that resilience cannot be achieved in isolation, and that global safety depends on strong international partnerships. 'Countries around the world hold vast reserves of knowledge, capabilities, and resources to reduce and prevent future shocks,' he concluded, 'it is our shared destiny that drives us to focus on discovering our full capacities and to shape a future built on cooperation and capability.'
