She said that mortality for certain hazards has dropped. The likelihood of mega-disasters had greatly diminished in many countries thanks to stronger institutions, robust legislation and policy frameworks, better preparedness, improved early warning systems, a greater understanding of disaster risk, increased engagement with civil society and more accountability for man-made hazards.

However, economic losses were escalating and these losses were not sustainable if we are to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

“A recent estimate is that, annually, disasters cost the global economy US$ 520 billion and push 26 million people into poverty,” she said.

The Deputy Secretary-General continued: “The challenge is how we are going to achieve the SDGs if annual economic losses from disasters can wipe out the entire GDP of a low income country overnight and force millions from their homes.  Haiti, for example, lost 120% of its GDP in the 2010 earthquake, and 32% of its GDP as a result of Hurricane Matthew last October.”

Ms. Mohammed recalled that Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Pacific, have all agreed and adopted plans to implement the Sendai Framework “with a clear focus on shifting the paradigm from managing disasters to managing disaster risk.”

She emphasized that this is vital in order to progress on key targets of the Sendai Framework including reducing mortality, reducing the numbers of people affected by disasters, reducing economic losses and reducing damage to critical infrastructure.

These strategies are essential to the overall success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They allow for targeted measures to reduce exposure and vulnerability for low-income communities, and greater integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction at local and national level.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, spoke earlier at the Welcome Plenary, and said he expected that the multi-stakeholder nature of this gathering, the opportunity to share and learn from each other, will provide great momentum to efforts to make this a safer and more resilient world.

“We will review the challenges of putting in place national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction by 2020 as called for by the Sendai Framework. We will look at how we can learn from best practice in integrating action on climate and disaster risk so that disaster risk reduction efforts support the overall achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially efforts to reduce poverty,” he said.

Mr. Glasser urged participants to make the most of this opportunity. “Attend as many events as you can. Talk to everyone who has an idea or an experience that you can make use of in your own work,” he said.

Date:

24 May 2017

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Themes:

Governance, Disaster Risk Management

Countries:

Mexico