The director of the Fair Tech Institute, Lim May-Ann, spoke at the Global Digital Development Forum 2022 (GDDF 2022) on 4 May 2022, on the innovative role that satellite communications could and should play in emergency communications during disasters and crises.
Access Partnership and the Fair Tech Institute released a white paper in March which showed that the impact of natural disasters will be concentrated among low- and middle-income countries, which are relatively less prepared to adapt. The paper shows that natural disasters currently cost the agricultural sector of these economies more than USD 108 billion in damaged crop and livestock production. Should the level of financing in climate adaptability remain low, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that climate change adaptation and natural disaster damages would cost developing countries a range of USD 280 to USD 500 billion per year by 2050, a figure four to five times higher than previous estimates.
The GDDF is a virtual ICT for Development (ICT4D) conference which is organised by USAID, Chemonics, Deloitte, TechChange, DAI, Palladium, CARE, and the Digital Impact Alliance around major themes important to international development.
The recording of this presentation is available here.
