The United Nations chief representative for the Asia-Pacific says Australia should play a greater role in assisting vulnerable nations in the region as the costs of natural disasters are forecast to escalate by 2030.
UN Under-Secretary-General for the Asia-Pacific Shamshad Akhtar says Australia is one of the few nations in the region with the economic resilience to withstand natural disasters.
But Australia is also ranked among the top 10 countries with the highest forecast annual losses from disasters, led by Japan, the USA and China.
"My appeal to Australia and other countries that have the resources is to work more closely with us to deploy the necessary funds to get this work done to get the capacity building programs out there," Ms Akhtar told AAP.
Under the government of former prime minister Tony Abbott Australia significantly restructured its foreign aid program.
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In a just released report, Disasters without Borders, the UN says the costs are escalating from natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific, with the region reporting some 50 per cent of the world's disasters.
In the decade to 2014 there were 1625 reported disaster events claiming over 500,000 lives.
Over the same period the damage to property, crops, and livestock increased to over $US523 billion ($A739 billion).
The UN forecasts annual costs from natural disasters to rise by 2030 to an average $US160 billion ($A226 billion) a year.
Fiji's Minister responsible for national disaster management, Inia Batikoto Seruiratu, said Australia and New Zealand had the capacity to assist vulnerable island nations in distress.
After a cyclone that hit Vanuatu this year "only Australia and New Zealand can afford to give us the assistance so we hope that they will continue to do so," Mr Seruiratu told AAP at a conference to mark the release of the UN report.
