The Sendai Framework in the Baltic sea region

At no point in human history have we faced such an array of both familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyper-connected, rapidly changing world. New risks and correlations are emerging. Decades-old projections about climate change have come true much sooner than expected. With that come changes in the intensity and frequency of hazards. Risk really is systemic, and requires concerted and urgent effort to reduce it in integrated and innovative ways.

Countries adopted the Sendai Framework in 2015 to address a broader scope of hazards and risks. The Sendai Framework charts a clear policy pathway for governments and citizens to prevent and mitigate shocks caused by natural and man-made hazards, as well as related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks. In making the logical connection between reducing risk and building resilience, the Sendai Framework provides the connecting tissue for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, the New Urban Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Agenda for Humanity.

In the following report we can see how the Sendai Framework is being implemented in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR), and the specific issues that the region faces in efforts to reduce disaster risk. We know that disasters do not respect boarders, and that trans boundary cooperation is often key to successfully building resilience to disasters. One of the key recommendations from this report is to strengthen multi-level and cross-sectoral cooperation. By doing so, unique opportunities to enhance the ef ciency and effectiveness of plans and programs can arise which result in more robust risk reduction activities.

We hope this report provides readers with useful advice and understanding of the challenges, good practices, and ways forward for reducing disaster risk in the Baltic Sea Region.