The incidence of disasters is increasing and climate change is expected to result in more frequent and severe hazards. Poor people's livelihoods will be the hardest hit. This is because they often live in risk prone areas and have few resources to protect themselves against disasters. Reducing people’s vulnerability to hazards will become increasingly important in the coming years, to reduce the impacts of disasters before they occur, rather than having to respond to disasters once they have caused widespread devastation.

Practical Action is working with communities to reduce the risks of disasters through strengthening disaster preparedness such as early warning systems, and preventing hazards through better environmental management, and by strengthening communities’ capacity to cope with disasters.