United Nations General Assembly A/RES/59/233 Distr.: General 22 February 2005 Fifty-ninth session Agenda item 85 (c) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2004 [on the report of the Second Committee (A/59/483/Add.3)] 59/233. Natural disasters and vulnerability The General Assembly, Recalling its decision 57/547 of 20 December 2002 and its resolution 58/215 of 23 December 2003, Taking into account the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development 1 and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2 adopted by the World Summit, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002, Recognizing the need to continue to develop an understanding of, and to address, socio-economic activities that exacerbate the vulnerability of societies to natural disasters, to build and further strengthen community capacity to cope with disaster risks and to enhance resilience against hazards associated with disasters, Noting that the global environment continues to suffer degradation, adding to economic and social vulnerabilities, in particular in developing countries, Taking into account the various ways and forms in which all countries, in particular the more vulnerable countries, are affected by severe natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and extreme weather events such as heat waves, severe droughts, floods and storms, and the El Niño/La Niña events, which have global reach, Recognizing that the impact of natural disasters upon vulnerable countries is, among others, a significant obstacle to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 3 in particular those relating to poverty eradication and environmental sustainability, Expressing deep concern at the recent increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and associated natural disasters in some regions of the _______________ 1 Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August– 4 September 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 1, annex. 2 Ibid., resolution 2, annex. 3 See resolution 55/2. 04-49024