UNDRR News

For island nations on the frontline of climate change and a swathe of natural hazards, the issue of whether communities should give up the battle and leave is never far away.

Dozens of the world’s most climate-vulnerable island nations today spotlighted efforts to curb threats posed by hazards and to make development sustainable, ahead of the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The island nation of Cabo Verde and landlocked Swaziland have joined 26 other countries in Africa that are implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a 15-year global agreement which seeks to save lives, reduce disaster losses and improve management of disaster risk by enhancing risk knowledge.

China’s Minister of Civil Affairs has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to increasing international cooperation to address the common challenge of disasters.

Young researchers in China have been urged to take up the ‘noble pursuit’ of applying science and technology to save lives and protect livelihoods from disasters.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, today marked China’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Day by expressing his condolences on the loss of at least eight lives in yesterday’s earthquake in Xinjiang Province and praising the country’s commitment to keeping economic losses at 1.3% of GDP or below.

Rising disasters in Africa’s cities and their links with poverty and rapid, unplanned urbanisation are ever more apparent from tragedies such as the recent rubbish dump landslide in Addis Ababa, which killed at least 113 people.

Early warning systems and making the link between predictable weather and climate events and their impacts are critical to save lives and property when disaster looms.

Countries from across the Arab region have set out their collective stance ahead of the looming 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, following similar moves by other parts of the world.

Australia estimates that its annual economic losses from disasters will triple to US$17.7 billion by 2050 as it embarks on a new initiative to integrate climate change action and disaster resilience.