COP30: Severe weather is natural, but the disasters that follow aren't
While the COP30 agenda has placed communities at the forefront of climate impact, from extreme weather and floods to droughts and heatwaves. It simultaneously highlights an important truth: the weather is natural; the disaster is not. The impact of climate change is determined by planning, infrastructure, preparedness and the resilience we choose to invest in.
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What’s natural about a disaster?
Every time the news breaks with footage of devastation – homes swept away, bridges down, lives upended – there’s one phrase that always comes up: natural disaster.
But here’s the thing: the weather’s natural, but the disaster isn’t.
Floods, storms, droughts and earthquakes are natural hazards. They are part of the Earth’s systems.
But whether those hazards become disasters is shaped entirely by people, by where we build, how we plan, how we maintain infrastructure and whether communities have warning, transport and trust.
Scaled-up climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction have been central to the COP30 agenda, and this has been reinforced throughout the week.
While extreme weather is undeniably intensifying in a warming world, the scale of devastation still hinges on human choices: how we plan, build, invest and prepare.
Accountability erasure
In disaster risk management, a disaster is defined by its impact on people, property, infrastructure and the environment.
A storm is not a disaster on its own; it becomes one when it intersects with poor planning, inadequate maintenance or vulnerable communities living in high-risk areas.
Calling something a “natural disaster” suggests inevitability – as if nothing could have been done to prevent or reduce the loss. That language erases accountability.
Many of the disasters South Africa experiences are decades in the making: neglected stormwater systems, informal housing in flood-prone zones, deforestation, building on floodplains and overlooked signs of failing infrastructure.
Nature may trigger the event, but people shape the consequences. And when disaster strikes, the most vulnerable are the ones who suffer most.
Preparedness saves lives
Across South Africa and in communities as far afield as rural Ghana and Samoa, the same truth emerges: preparedness saves lives.
It doesn’t require a high-tech centre or a million-rand equipment. Sometimes it’s a simple communication system, a school siren, a ward councillor with a plan, or a family go-bag packed with essentials.
In Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal, one councillor’s swift action during the floods – coordinating evacuations, arranging transport and relaying warnings – made an enormous difference.
Not everyone followed the guidance, often because fear, past trauma or mistrust kept them rooted, but those who acted early were safer for it.
These are the lessons COP30 is amplifying.
Disaster risk reduction succeeds or fails at the local level. Early-warning systems, inclusive communication, trust-building and last-mile preparation are among the most effective tools available.
Resilience grows through everyday habits, planning and relationships long before an emergency siren sounds.
The money matter
One of the biggest obstacles remains the way the world funds disasters.
Money typically arrives after a catastrophe has already struck. Relief and recovery are politically visible.
Negotiators at COP30 are under growing pressure to rebalance this, because it is now widely accepted that adaptation and prevention save far more lives and cost far less than rebuilding afterwards.
Resilience often isn’t about enormous budgets at all.
It’s about coordination: functioning early-warning systems, realistic transport plans, community awareness campaigns, ward-level risk mapping and enough trust that if leaders say, “It’s time to go,” people go.
Resilience is essential
Still, resilience cannot be the government’s task alone.
Every household plays a role in understanding the hazards around them, knowing where to go during an emergency and talking openly about plans with their children.
Disaster readiness is something communities build together. It becomes part of how we live, not just how we respond when the sky darkens.
In South Africa’s disaster management circles, there’s a phrase we repeat often: it’s everybody’s business. And it is.
Extreme weather may be driven by a changing climate, but disasters arise from the systems we design, the choices we make and the preparedness we prioritise.
As COP30 draws to a close, it is time to stop treating disasters as unavoidable and start treating resilience as essential – because there is no such thing as a natural disaster, only natural hazards meeting unprepared societies.
About the author
Yolandi Meyer is the disaster risk management consultant for climate resilience and water at Atana