EU welcomes progress shown on disaster risk reduction by UN report ahead of Sendai World Conference
The EU welcomes the publication by the UN Secretary-General of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2015). Evidence from the GAR provides a compelling case for the need to improve disaster risk reduction in the coming years. This will be a crucial step in the implementation of the international frameworks on disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development in 2015 and beyond, all of them due to be agreed this year.
In the past 10 years, disasters have killed 0.7 million people, affected 1.7 billion people and caused EUR 1.25 trillion in direct economic losses, with losses concentrated disproportionately in low and middle income countries. EU support for the preparation of the report by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has been fundamental, providing the means to conduct modelling and investigate disaster risk in 30 countries. The EU is also working with interested countries on guidance methodologies to enhance the sharing of data and therefore strengthening further their capabilities towards disaster risk reduction.
One important finding of the GAR 2015 is that while disaster management has improved over recent years, for example by increased early warning systems, countries have neglected to manage the underlying risks, such as reducing poverty, planning and managing cities appropriately, and protecting and restoring ecosystems. One lesson of the report is on the need to move towards a culture of prevention, in which information about risk is widely shared with policymakers, local communities, local authorities, civil society, academia and the private sector.
The improved risk knowledge will be an important result of the capacity building support provided by the EU towards a more strategic approach in the integration of disaster risk reduction in sustainable development policies and in public and private sector investments.
The EU has taken a leading role in building a new, ambitious and enhanced international post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction to be adopted in March 2015 in Sendai.