A “radical rethink” on flood mitigation is needed to counter a growing global threat, according to Zurich.

A report funded by the Swiss insurer says that in the past two decades, 87% of aid has been spent on emergency response and rehabilitation, with 13% on reducing risk.

This is despite worldwide flood losses in 2000-09 doubling compared with the previous decade, and coastal floods increasing in likelihood due to climate change.

More attention should be paid to communities’ needs, the report says.

“To be effective, resilience activities should encourage efforts to maintain and raise the standard of living of those affected by floods.”

Better data will make it easier to calculate, record and analyse flood resilience, while barriers to progress such as financial concerns must be overcome.

“There is a need for a radical rethink on the approach to mitigating and preparing for floods – we need to focus more on pre-event mitigation, as opposed to focusing almost solely on recovery,” General Insurance CEO Mike Kerner said.

“We know that ‘after a flood’ is really just ‘before the next flood’. The key to enhancing flood resilience lies in increasing our understanding of the full breadth and scale of the risks and how to best protect against them.”

The report – Enhancing Community Flood Resilience: A Way Forward – is a collaboration between Zurich, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.