UNDRR News

In an interview with BBC World News, Margareta Wahlstrom, UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, stressed the importance of urban planning and creating safe living environments following the flooding and landslides that have hit Australia and Brazil.

Cebu City, Philippines – 39 municipalities of Cebu Province, Philippines, today pledged to make their local government units safer from disasters, by joining the United Nations disaster reduction campaign “Making Cities Resilient: My City Is Getting Ready!” while gathered at the Cebu Provincial Capitol Social Hall, N. Escario St. Capitol Site, Cebu City.

Floods in Australia again underline the need for all countries – both developed and developing – to plan ahead or face increasing economic losses in the face of a “new normal” marked by unpredictable and extreme weather patterns. “Reports from Australia say flood damage may reach $1 billion. With weather patterns becoming more unpredictable and extreme, costs of this magnitude may become commonplace in all parts of the world unless we urgently change the way we think about and react to disasters,” said Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.

UNISDR has named Cheikh Mamadou Abiboulaye Dieye, Mayor of Saint Louis, Senegal, champion of the "Making Cities Resilient" campaign, in recognition of his achievements in advancing disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Saint Louis City. To mark the occasion, UNISDR held an award ceremony at the "African Cities Commit" regional conference on climate change and local governance. Participants at the conference included mayors from various countries including, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Namibia.

Acknowledging their "critical role in an effective disaster risk reduction strategy," UNISDR will bring together representatives from leading companies in an inaugural meeting of the Private Sector Advisory Group, on 17 December in Geneva. Ten companies forming the Advisory Group are DuPont Sustainable Solutions, PricewaterhouseCoopers SA, Willis Re and Willis Research Network, United Nations Foundation, MunichRe Foundation, Dow Chemical Europe, Titan America, Arup International, Credit Suisse and Small Equity Initiative. Along with other members of the private sector, the Advisory Group will discuss -- for the first time -- the "Ten Essentials for Business in Disaster Risk Reduction," outlining ways in which private companies can support governments to develop institutions and legislation to bolster disaster risk reduction.

The experience of Europe’s big cities, immobilized by the cold snap, shows that the world may be under-prepared to deal with less predictable climate patterns, says UNISDR. “National meteorological services in Europe did well to issue warnings, but being prepared goes beyond prediction,” said Margareta Wahlström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for DRR. “A complete and effective early warning system also requires planners to understand the risks they face, so that they are able to respond appropriately.”

While communities work diligently to protect vulnerable populations and critical infrastructure, they must remember the other things they would like to see protected -- sacred forests, cultural monuments and heritage sites. A value-based approach to disaster risk reduction is at the heart of discussions at the International Conference on Disaster Management and Cultural Heritage, “Living in Harmony with the Four Elements,” convened by the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs of the Royal Government of Bhutan, in cooperation with the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, from 12 to 14 December.

While at the Cancun cliamte conference on 8 December, UNISDR Deputy Director Helena Molin Valdes discussed the "Making Cities Resilient" campaign at a UN system-wide side event on "Cities and Climate Change: Enhancing mitigation and adaptation action," attended by approximately 150 national officials, members of UN agencies, and civil society representatives.

Just as climate negotiations were wrapping up in Cancún, Mexico, government officials from vulnerable islands in the Philippines took action to reduce the damaging effects of climate change on their communities by joining UNISDR’s world disaster reduction campaign.

In a part of the world struggling with climate-related hazards such as drought and flood, experts are meeting to discuss ways for Africa to cope with disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Addressing participants at the opening of the International Conference on Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, Abbas Gullet, Secretary-General of the Kenya Red Cross Society, said that climate-related hazards had far-reaching impacts on the Kenyan economy.