Southeast Asia is facing one of its worst storm seasons on record, as thousands of people have died or are missing across Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Another storm is currently forming in the Philippine Sea.

But while governments are promising to rebuild, it is not clear how they can afford to do so every year as the storm seasons get worse.

At the same time, the United Nations announced that it has slashed its 2026 budget for response to war and natural disasters by half.

These countries are increasingly on their own – left to try and put cities and lives back together, storm after storm.

So, how is this changing lives and livelihoods?

And what does the future of flood recovery look like across Southeast Asia?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Alexandre Borde – Environmental economist and CEO of Cibola Partners

Sehr Raheja – Programme officer for the Climate Change Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment

Benjamin Horton – Dean of the School of Energy and Environment and professor of Earth Science at City University of Hong Kong