Unpacking resilience in the post-2015 Hyogo Framework for Action: Reducing vulnerability to disasters
Quarterly seminar series on disasters, resilience and eco-solutions
Speakers:
Dr. Patrick Macquarrie, International Union for Conservation of Nature: A resilience framework for Integrated Watershed Management governance
Sandra Aviles, Senior Liaison Officer, Programme Development and Humanitarian Affairs,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Putting FAO’s Resilience Framework into Practice
His Excellency Mr. Manuel B. Dengo, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Costa Rica to the United Nations
Moderated by: Dr. Muralee Thummarukudy, United Nations Environment Programme
The notion of ‘climate risks’, disasters and building ‘resilience’ has clearly dominated the international development agenda in the 21st century. Resilience for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) would seem to offer the hope that sustainable development once did, with resilience viewed as a binding force, linking development, humanitarian efforts, CCA and DRR. Enhancing resilience connotes a positive outlook in addressing multiple development challenges, in contrast to, for example, the more negative connotation associated with “vulnerability reduction”, often used in the field of disaster management.
Yet, despite increased popularity of the term ‘resilience’, there is limited theoretical and practical understanding, and there are often multiple, contradictory definitions of resilience. With millions worth of international development assistance invested already into building resilience, there is little guidance or benchmarks available that describe what resilience is, how to increase it, or when resilience has been achieved.
We are at a unique crossroad. International dialogue has begun to negotiate a new global agreement on DRR when the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) expires in 2015, at the same time as the post-2015 sustainable development agenda as well as the new global climate change agreement are being elaborated. What meaning should resilience take in the post-2015 HFA, and how can science and practice inform this debate? How can major drivers of under-development, vulnerability to disasters, and climate change impacts be effectively tackled under a resilience framework?
This seminar intends to stimulate discussion and debate on the meaning of resilience by drawing from ecosystems science and experience from the environmental and natural resource management sector. It will examine the role of environment in reducing vulnerability to disasters and climate change and its policy relevance in building resilience.