WRRC Webinar: Driving Resilience: The Critical Role of Private Sector’s Readiness for Recovery

This webinar aims to address the critical role of private sector resilience in disaster recovery, highlighting the economic and social impacts of disasters on business operations. The session will explore lessons from past disasters, the links between climate change and operational resilience, and public-private collaboration in building resilience. Through expert insights and interactive discussions, it will highlight practical strategies for disaster adaptation and recovery, featuring contributions from key resilience networks. The discussion will also initiate dialogue on principles for private sector engagement in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and emergency response, assessing their business case and gathering stakeholder feedback. Participants will gain actionable insights to strengthen organizational resilience and contribute to shaping emerging guidelines for private sector involvement in DRM.

This webinar is co-organized by the Corporate Chief Resilience Officers (CCRO) Network, ARISE Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

Background

Disasters disrupt communities and private sector operations, which form the backbone of economies and livelihoods. With businesses accounting for 70-80% of economic activity in most countries, their resilience is vital for recovery and stability. However, disasters often expose weaknesses in operational readiness, leading to financial losses, supply chain disruptions and prolonged recovery periods, affecting both businesses and national economies.

Recent events such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated the severe impact disasters can have on private sector continuity. Climate change further intensifies these risks, with rising sea levels, extreme weather and resource scarcity threatening business sustainability, particularly in vulnerable regions. Strengthening private sector preparedness is essential to mitigate these cascading effects and ensure resilient recovery.

Session objectives

This webinar will serve as a precursor to the technical session at the World Resilient Recovery Conference (WRRC), focusing on enhancing the operational readiness of private sector actors for resilient recovery. It will explore key challenges and data gaps related to private sector resilience, including operational continuity, financial preparedness, climate change impacts, and public-private collaboration. It will identify good practices for business resilience, outline potential strategies to address these challenges, and highlight areas for further discussion at the WRRC Technical Session. The session will also emphasize enhanced collaboration between businesses, governments, NGOs, and financial institutions to foster resilience and drive sustainable recovery efforts.

The session further aims to:

1. To synthesize good practices in operational readiness across diverse business scales, from large corporations to MSMEs, drawing on case studies and lessons learned from past events.
2. To discuss a framework for climate-resilient business operations, examining the unique challenges posed by increasingly frequent and severe climate-driven disasters.
3. To forge consensus on a standardized framework for declaring public-private partnerships in disaster resilience, identifying concrete opportunities to enhance collaboration in preparedness and recovery efforts in alignment with Sendai Framework Priority 4.  

Speakers

Segment moderators:

• Richard FitzHugh, Head of Business Resilience, Holcim Group Services Ltd
• Laurent Giezendanner, Head Corporate Security and Legal Operations, Syngenta Group
• Kilian Murphy, Program Lead - Thematic Innovations, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)

Panelists:

• Veronica Gabaldon, Executive Director, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF)
• Carlos Jimenez, Director, Asociación Mexicana de Instituciones de Seguros (AMIS)
• Hisan Hassan, Chief Executive, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Maldives