Learn more about why integrated climate and disaster risk management governance is important and how it can be ensured through comprehensive risk management 

Where do we stand 

Key Challenges 

• The impact of climate emergency is growing and will be increasingly felt. Climate-related disasters have almost doubled compared to the previous twenty years and the frequency and spread of extreme events such as droughts, floods and storms will considerably increase in future.  
• Governance mechanisms in countries remain siloed dealing with climate change and disaster risk separately, impeded by institutional and financing barriers. Such gaps can often be worsened by trade-offs in implementation between sectors. 
• Capacity gaps remain across governance mechanisms, especially in least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). 

Opportunities  

• There is a growing understanding and political will to adopt integrated approaches across governance structures.  
• Increasing risk analytics, the big data revolution and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) provide common bases for integrated planning and implementation. Tools and guidance on integrated governance of climate and disaster risk have been developed that need to be applied and turned into concrete actions through capacity development. 
• Good practices exist across countries and regions that need to be replicated and contextualized to national needs.  
• Effective partnerships and coordination mechanisms have been developed that can support countries to successfully implement multi-sectoral, multi-hazard and multi-stakeholder approaches. 

Session guiding questions

• How have national and local strategies for disaster and climate resilience evolved since 2015 and what have been the main takeaways in meeting Target E of the Sendai Framework? How have the relevant and complementary sectoral planning processes evolved? 
• Which governance arrangements have enabled the implementation of comprehensive risk management strategies and plans? Which governance challenges have hindered implementation? 
• What should we do to accelerate actions stemming from both the Sendai Framework and Paris Agreement at the local levels? 
• What are the COVID-19 crisis and the climate emergency teaching the DRR community in adapting disaster risk governance?  
• What is required in terms of accelerators and, drivers to transform the way we work? 
• Where do we want to be by 2030, and what needs to happen in the coming years to get there? 

Read this section to learn more about the topic of financing for risk prevention, ensuring you come prepared to the session. 

Where do we stand? 

Key challenges include: 

• Unprecedented debt accumulation amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic  
• Vicious cycle of disaster-response-recover-repeat due to lack of ex ante investment in resilience 
• The true costs of climate change, crisis and disaster are not fully accounted for or known 
• Negative impacts are often disproportionately borne by marginalized groups as disasters impact people differently 

At the same time, risk prevention financing presents opportunities, notably: 

• Improving the effectiveness of risk prevention investments through better inclusiveness and access to funds at local and community level. 
• Better understanding of investment impacts through strengthened assessment and tracking of investments and accountability systems 
• Better use of climate risk and vulnerability assessments, as well as evidence and data of climate impacts, help demonstrate the need for early risk prevention measures as well as comprehensive insurance coverage 
• The possibility for international ratings agencies and major creditors to shift towards a sustainable business model by considering investments in risk prevention or adaptation.  

Session guiding questions 

• What challenges prevent investment in risk prevention both in public and private portfolios? How do investment challenges differ between national, local and community level?       
• What opportunities and good practices and mechanisms exist for making risk-informed investments?  Who are the emerging key players in this field?      
• What are the key steps for putting in place a common vision towards increasing risk prevention investments? 
• How can we ensure that investments in prevention support the and benefit the most vulnerable, including women?  

Read this section to learn more about the topic of COVID-19 lessons to ensure social and economic recovery for all. 

Where do we stand

Despite strong efforts to strengthen disaster risk governance systems over the years, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that significant challenges remain. These include: 

• Insufficient knowledge and integration mechanisms of the health and other sectors as part of the scope of disaster risk management  
• Lack of understanding of risk complexity and the effects of cascading socio-economic impacts on vulnerable populations 
• Absence of investment in prevention and preparedness actions as part of recovery efforts, notably those that would address social and economic drivers of inequality 

At the same time, there are opportunities. 

• Despite insufficient past coordination between the health and other sectors, there has been a recent increase in the establishment of policy frameworks and recognition to increase coordination between the heath and other sectors in response to COVID-19, particularly disaster managers that should be taken advantage of. 
• Recognition of the need for multi-hazard risk management for effective risk governance and evidence-based recovery.
• Recognition of the impact of disasters on the more vulnerable and of the need to adopt a whole of society and inclusive approach to disaster risk reduction and recovery from COVID-19.

Session guiding questions

• Considering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on different co-existing groups, sectors and systems, how can governments and stakeholders better identify and manage current and emerging systemic risks, including the climate crisis? 
• How can we address identified challenges and accelerate progress in managing the “new” and multiple types of hazards and disaster risks included in the Sendai Framework for DRR1?  
• What are the key elements identified from the pandemic experience that can help us strengthen disaster risk governance and build stronger and more forward-looking, innovative and transformative systems for managing all types of hazards and risks? 
• How can governments and stakeholders plan using the information on current and emerging systemic risks, including the climate crisis to better manage risks in the future? 

Read this section to learn more about Sendai Framework implementation, its progress and challenges, ensuring you come prepared to the session. 

Where do we stand  

The first seven years of Sendai Framework Implementation have seen increased efforts of countries and communities to reduce risk and protect hard-earned development gains. With 153 countries now reporting on at least one of seven Sendai Targets, new trends are emerging. Global disaster-related mortality is on a downward trajectory and has declined by 40% compared to the 2000s, bringing us closer to reaching Sendai Target A. In the meantime, there has been a 1.5-fold increase in the number of countries with national and/or local DRR strategies, reaching 120 in 2020 (Target E).  

Despite this progress, disaster risk is proliferating, pointing to an urgent need to significantly accelerate action to implement the Sendai Framework. At no other point in history has the world faced such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyperconnected world and a precipitously changing landscape. Climate change is the defining crisis of our time and is happening quicker than anticipated. The ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that disasters are not confined to one sector, one location or one community and can quickly escalate into global crises. 

To be effective, global, national and local DRR efforts must be grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the far-reaching impacts of disasters, threats, crises and climate change. Achievement of the Sendai Framework requires greater focus on managing disaster risk in all its dimensions (hazards, exposure and vulnerability) with a particular focus on addressing the drivers of risk (including poverty, inequality, structural discrimination, and social norms) alongside building the enabling environment for more inclusive decision making. Furthermore, managing risk in all its dimensions is also a critical means of achieving the ambitious goals and policy commitments of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement.    

Session guiding questions  

Where do we stand on Sendai Framework implementation?  

• Are we on track to reach the expected outcomes, goals and targets by 2030? 
• What are key good practices, experience and learning at regional level?  
• What are we learning from recent global DRR policy stocktaking processes? 

How do we strengthen our understanding of risk?  

• How to strengthen the evidence base for DRR and incorporate risk analysis at all levels of policy, programming and action? 

How do we accelerate progress?  

• How to promote an effective enabling environment for comprehensive disaster risk management and achieving the Sendai Framework?  
• What is needed to hardwire disaster and climate risk into humanitarian and development policy and action in order to catalyse synergies across the post-2015 commitments? 

How do we work together?  

• How to strengthen international cooperation for disaster risk reduction that is multi-hazard, multi-disciplinary, multi-sector, and multi-stakeholder? 
• Way forward: what are the foremost priorities for action towards 2030?