UNDRR News

Indigenous knowledge is an important source of wisdom for sustainability, UN Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon says, underlining an issue that it is also crucial for disaster risk reduction.

As this September’s anticipated UN Summit to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) draws near, intergovernmental discussions in New York are focusing on how their implementation will be measured and tracked.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today warned that “growing global inequality, increasing exposure to natural hazards, rapid urbanization and the overconsumption of energy and natural resources threaten to drive risk to dangerous and unpredictable levels with systemic global impacts.”

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has designated the City of Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, as a Role Model City of the Making Cities Resilient campaign for its flood risk management practices. These include plans to retain over a million gallons of stormwater runoff through green infrastructure.

This week’s UN Climate Summit has generated commitments to raise $2 billion of in-kind and direct support for cities threatened by extreme weather events fuelled by climate change.

Eighteen students at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, have just completed the university’s first-ever course on disaster risk reduction, in part as a result of Hurricane Sandy which killed at least 117 people and caused $65 billion worth of damage in the US alone.

Following on a statement by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that “economic losses are out of control and can only be reduced in partnership with the private sector,” the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) today launched the R!SE Initiative to mainstream disaster risk management into corporate planning and investment decision-making.

The vital role of cities as engines of climate resilience has been recognised with the appointment of the former mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg, as Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Disaster risk reduction should not be seen only as an imperative to protecting investments in development, but also as an opportunity for a transformative shift towards resilient development.” This rousing statement from disaster-prone Bangladesh was one of several calls from governments for disaster and climate risk considerations to be incorporated at every stage of development. The seventh session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals heard consistent support for the integration of disaster risk management within each sector that may be addressed by the goals, such as poverty eradication, energy, health, food security.

Exactly a year ago, Sandy proved to be the most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, severely impacting lives and economies in seven countries. For the United States, it was the second-costliest hurricane in its history and affected the entire eastern seaboard, causing an alarming economic bill of up to $50 billion. New York City was one of the worst affected. On the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy this week, however, the city appears occupied with its future rather than its past. Heeding the signs of a changing climate, in June this year, New York City released its plan to protect the city from coastal hazards and climate change impacts called A Stronger, More Resilient New York.