The interactions between climate change trends, ecosystem fragility, disease outbreaks, rapid unplanned urbanization, mass displacement and geopolitical instability, fueled by the interconnectivity of communications, trade, financial systems and politics, mean that shocks, stresses, and crises reverberate globally.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world what the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 is all about: risk is systemic, interconnected and cascading. Climate change is driving increased risk across all countries, and unpredictable hazards can have devastating cascading impacts on all sectors, with long-lasting, debilitating socio-economic and environmental consequences.
As UN Member States move forward with Agenda 2030, more focused, accelerated action is required to help countries identify and analyse the broad range of risks they face, put in place appropriate measures to mitigate existing risks and to prevent the creation of new risks.
Reducing existing risk, preventing the creation of new risk and building resilience take a whole-of-society approach. And they all take committed leadership and governance.
Disasters do discriminate. They tend to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, especially the poorest. This is why the Sendai Framework calls for an all-of-society engagement and partnership.
Investing in disaster risk reduction is a precondition for effective disaster risk governance that is prepared to tackle the systemic nature of risk. Governments need to invest in and prioritize prevention and resilience. As the reality of climate impacts hit, we need to assure to decrease losses.
The Words into Action series provides practical guidance to support the implementation of the Sendai Framework, ensure engagement and ownership of action by all stakeholders, and strengthen accountability in disaster risk reduction.
The Sendai Framework recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.