Geneva, May 11 (IANS) No country was immune to disasters, and better preparedness could be damage-proofing as well as life-saving during disasters, Xinhua quoted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as saying Tuesday.

Speaking at the 3rd session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction here, Ban Ki-moon said: "As countries invest more in early warning and preparedness, mortality risk from floods and cyclones is trending down."

He said this while citing the findings from an UN report on disaster risk reduction launched on the same session.

"The world's vulnerability to disaster risks is growing faster than our ability to increase resilience," said the UN chief while attributing the rising number of weather-related hazards to global climate change.

Meanwhile, the issue of nuclear safety, as indicated by the disaster of Chernobyl, and the more recent case of Fukushima, was pinpointed by the UN chief.

He urged accelerated efforts in building the capacity to fight against disasters, through measures such as effective early warning systems, proper land use planning and good building design.