The last twenty years have seen a dramatic rise of 151 per cent in direct economic losses from climate-related disasters globally. In the period 1998-2017, disaster-hit countries reported direct economic losses of US$2,908 billion of which climate-related disasters accounted for US$2,245 billion or 77 per cent of the total. This compares with total reported losses for the period 1978-1997 of US$1,313 billion of which climate-related disasters accounted for US$895 billion or 68 per cent. Economic loss is one of many issues under discussion at the UNISDR Africa-Arab Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, under way in Tunis, Tunisia this week. CNBC Africa’s caught up with Josefa Lionel Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission, to talk about the AU’s commitments towards Disaster Risk Reduction.