17 July 2018

Vulnerable development still profitable

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - New York UNHQ Liaison Office

NEW YORK, 17 July, 2018 – Making resilience profitable is key to ensuring that private sector investments contribute to more resilient development, according to a leading figure in US industry.

Speaking at a panel discussion co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Armenia, Colombia, Mongolia, Switzerland and UNISDR, the former CEO of Titan America, Mr Aris Papadopoulos said: “Our economic system still rewards vulnerable assets,” he said. “What do we need to do to reward resilient development instead?”

He was speaking at a side event of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development currently taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where member states are reporting their progress against the Sustainable Development Goals on water and sanitation, clean energy, sustainable cities, responsible consumption and development, life on land, and partnerships.

While offering the opportunity to report on the regional platforms hosted recently in Armenia, Colombia and Mongolia, the discussion also highlighted how implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reductioni – the global plan for reducing disaster losses – is central to achieving the Goals.

“The world will not be able to eradicate hunger and poverty if we do not invest in disaster risk reduction,” said Jürg Lauber, the Permanent Representative of Switzerland, whose country will host the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction next May in Geneva.

Also speaking at the event, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armenia, host of the recent Sub-regional Platform for Central Asia and the Caucasus, said: “Disasters do not respect borders. Our responses require changing trans-boundary cooperation.”

Ulziisakhan Enkhtuvshin, Deputy Prime Minister for Mongolia, highlighted the main recommendations from the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction as; creating a risk knowledge management system, a whole of society approach and scaling up use of the Sendai Framework Monitor.

The discussion was moderated by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori.