Floods, droughts and climate change should be considered alongside access to clean water by the United Nations General Assembly when it convenes in mid-September, according to a meeting of The Friends of Water on Monday.

Attendees at “Water and Disaster”, organised by the Permanent Mission of Tajikistan, highlighted the need for policy makers to adopt more holistic analyses of water issues and disaster preparedness.

Around the world, natural disasters affect over 100 million people each year, according to the International Disaster Database. Climate change will only increase that number, said Kenzo Hiroki, principal at the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM).

“Ninety percent of disasters are water related,” explained Hiroki, underscoring that water must be discussed in a context greater than access and distribution. “Water is life… but it is also a threat to life,” said Wilfred Inotira Emvula, Namibian permanent representative to the U.N.

Hiroki’s report, “Global Status of Water and Disasters,” cited the economic effects of water related disaster. Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. and the East Japan earthquake and tsunami significantly affected industrial production in both countries; in Kenya, drought has consistently predicted declines in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The case of Jamaica shows the effect of increased extreme weather on the tourism industry. Until 1987, “bad events happened every four years. Since then the frequency is much higher,” said Courtney Rattray, U.N. permanent representative of Jamaica. When hurricanes strike the island, hotels may “lose power and can’t run their water pumps” forcing them to close and depressing the tourism-dependent economy. Similarly, in Namibia until this year there “were floods for two years and now there is drought”, making planning difficult, said Emvula.

The ICHARM report did contained evidence of positive steps taken leading up to the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. While schools in other cities had casualty rates of up to 70 percent, those in Kamaishi City suffered one of only 0.17 percent.

Hiroki cited pre-disaster “water cooperation” and strong emergency preparedness among teachers and students as reasons for the relative safety in Kamaishi City.” The group agreed that sharing such experiences was vital and something the General Assembly should highlight in the future.

The meeting came on the heels of the “High Level International Conference on Water Cooperation” hosted by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan in Dushanbe on Aug. 20-22, 2013. Both were held in response to General Assembly Resolution A/67/204  “Implementation of the International Year of Water Cooperation, 2013,” effective from Dec. 21, 2012.