A/HRC/37/61 having pledged to provide long-term funding and donors continuing to be hesitant about making unearmarked contributions to such a common fund. 109 100. While in many instances it is too early to assess how the wide-ranging set of commitments will be implemented and monitored, the first progress reports illustrate mixed results. Progress has been uneven, with most developments focusing on localization, cash programming and improved linkages with private sector networks, with less progress on participation and earmarking.110 101. Considering the humanitarian sector’s structural deficiencies, critics argue that the limits of possible reform have been reached. They have, for example, condemned the Summit for failing to agree on meaningful structural reform of the United Nations system,111 and some are calling for a radical rethinking of the entire humanitarian system to make it more anticipatory, adaptive, participative and accountable. The wide-ranging suggestions include a unified United Nations “super emergency agency”; the establishment of a centralized capacity at the international level to provide stronger leadership; or alternatively, a major devolution to local and regional levels to make operating modalities more responsive to realities on the ground. VI. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 102. Climate-related disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. Their number has almost doubled in the past decade (there are now, on average, 335 events annually). Their impacts can be devastating for any State, even a wealthy one. In 2017, overall losses from storms and fires in the United States and widespread flooding in South Asia reached $330 billion.112 Hurricane Harvey in Texas was the most expensive natural disaster in 2017, costing $85 billion. The impact on agriculture from devastating wildfires in California is yet to be calculated. 103. Territory with poor infrastructure, a deprived population, compromised building safety standards and an underresourced health system undoubtedly add to the human suffering resulting from severe natural disasters. In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused significant damage in Cuba, Haiti and Puerto Rico. The drought in the Horn of Africa pushed more that 11 million people into severe food insecurity in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Flooding in Nepal and Bangladesh left 10 million people food-insecure. 104. Many of the negative effects of disasters may be prevented with appropriate planning and investment in infrastructure, or if the root causes are dealt with properly and take vulnerability variations into account. Most of the weather-related disasters that are “often dismissed as ‘climatic accidents’ turn out to be not so accidental at all”. 113 Therefore, effective and meaningful policies and regulations require “a much more holistically minded approach which recognizes historical contingencies and wealth inequality”.114 105. Severe food insecurity can be averted or substantially reduced if the right investments in agriculture are made in post-disaster periods. This would require, both more typical humanitarian “emergency” responses as well as “development” and capacity-building activities. Even at the earliest stages of a response, when the 109 110 111 112 113 114 Matthew Serventy and Petra Jaervinen, “Global Preparedness Partnership: update on progress since the World Humanitarian Summit”. Global Public Policy Institute, “Independent grand bargain report”, 8 June 2017. See www.irinnews.org/analysis/2016/05/26/world-humanitarian-summit-winners-and-losers. See www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/climate/losses-natural-disasters-insurance.html. Therese O’Donnell and Craig Allan, “Identifying solidarity: the ILC project on the protection of persons in disasters and human rights”. Ibid. 19