UNDRR News

UNISDR chief, Mr. Robert Glasser, calls on signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate to go beyond their existing commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the world is to avoid catastrophic future weather events.

The hundreds of deaths in Ecuador and the dozens of victims in Japan are a stark reminder of a basic fact about earthquakes: it is buildings, and not the shake itself, that claim most lives.

Hundreds of people are dead or missing as a result of a series of earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador in recent days. Reducing earthquake risk is an important objective of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction says UNISDR chief Mr. Robert Glasser.

Trillions of dollars of new investment are expected to pour into in hazard-prone areas by 2030, dramatically increasing the global value of assets at risk. Factoring that into capital investments, supply chains and operations will be decisive for business resilience and the success of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

An international business group working to reduce the impact of natural and man-made hazards has pledged to ensure that the private sector plays its part in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction promotes good land use and compliance with building codes and regulations. The World Bank Group has announced a new program to tackle the issues.

Disaster risk reduction is an election issue in one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines, which holds presidential, national and local elections on May 9.

The child-friendly version of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is to be translated into Korean following a meeting of children and youth supported by the city of Incheon with the participation of UNISDR.

World Tsunami Awareness Day will be commemorated this year for the first time, and every year thereafter, on 5 November. The Japanese Permanent Mission at the UN in New York marked the launch with an event which also marked the first anniversary of the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Ensuring that companies understand and act on the risks posed by natural and man-made hazards is a vital step towards reducing disaster impacts. Business education offers a tool to achieve this.