Disaster Risk Reduction Report Calls for Governance Transformation

GAR2022 explores how, around the world, structures are evolving to address systemic risk better.

According to the report, “despite commitments to build resilience, tackle climate change and create sustainable development pathways, current societal, political and economic choices are doing the reverse.

This action jeopardizes the achievement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. It hinders progress towards the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

The report highlights that risks increase from disasters, economic losses, worsening poverty and inequality. And because global systems are becoming more connected, local risks like covid-19 originating in Wuhan have spread rapidly with cascading impacts on health and economy from job losses and disruptions in supply, higher oil prices, for example.

Our best defence against systemic risks is transforming our systems to make them more resilient, which requires transformations in what governance systems value and how systemic risk is understood and addressed. Doing more of the same will not be enough, the report says.

GAR2022 highlights that:

• The climate emergency and the systemic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic point to a new reality.
• Understanding and reducing risk in a world of uncertainty is fundamental to achieving genuinely sustainable development.
• The best defence against future shocks is to transform systems now, build resilience by addressing climate change, and reduce the vulnerability, exposure and inequality that drive disasters.

To accelerate essential risk reduction and resilience building, GAR2022 calls for action to:

• Measure what we value.
• Design systems to factor in how human minds make decisions about risk.
• Reconfigure Governance and financial systems to work across silos and design in consultation with affected people.

The full report is available through the link provided in the “Source” section below.