Global platform for disaster risk reduction 2013: A summit to better prevent disasters

The "Risk Biennial": one might well give that nickname to the Global Platform for Disaster Risk reduction, a summit that takes place every other year in Geneva. Since 2007, top experts in risk reduction have been convening there to debate the latest news and findings of their field. This year, the conference is taking place from the 19th to the 23rd of May. Neil MacFarlane, Head of the Regional Programmes and Disaster Risk Reduction Coordination at UNISDR, answers a few of our questions about the summit below.

Could you tell us about the context of this Global Platform, including its goals?

Neil McFarlane: The Platform is organised by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction of the United Nations (UNISDR). Its goal is to improve the ability of countries and communities to face natural disaster by assembling, here in Geneva, various experts on risk, as well as policymakers responsible for disaster prevention.

How many attendees are you expecting, and what are their backgrounds?

This year, 40 ministers and 100 mayors will be attending here in Geneva, and the president of the Swiss Confederation will be opening the summit. Initially this event only drew 500 people; we're now at 3000. It brings together various experts in risk, and stakeholders interested in reducing the risk of natural disaster. This includes governments, NGOs, civil society, international agencies, technical and academic institutions, and the private sector as well.

Why is the private sector interested in risk reduction?

The private sector is starting to recognise that natural catastrophes have a powerful effect on the economy. Just take the floods in the North of Bangkok, which paralysed businesses and caused considerable economic loss. Or the tsunami that hit Japan after the earthquake. Ten years ago, people took the risk of doing nothing. But the increase in disasters is forcing us to start planning ahead.

What are you expecting at this fourth session?

We're actually highlighting the role of the private sector; its attitude has been gradually shifting. It's just a matter of helping them approach risk management more consistently, and in coordination with the public sector. It's a major theme of our 2013 Summit in Geneva. We've thus invited the leaders of large corporations to attend, and I must say they have been showing more and more interest. We're also being contacted by more moderate-sized businesses. And insurance companies as well. Risk reduction contributes to economic vitality. Good management and decent prevention also create value and reduce costs. It's also a way to bolster confidence, which is the cornerstone of the economy.

It's also worth pointing out that the private sector is involved in 70 to 85% of holdings in global real estate, business and infrastructure. Thus, it's affected by risk management. We know that damage caused by floods, earthquakes or droughts have typically been underestimated by 50%. A study led by UNISDR and some of its partners showed that the economic consequences of earthquakes and cyclones alone could amount to more than $180 billion in the twenty-first century. So it is crucial that the public and private sectors function as partners.

Has there been an increase in natural disasters in the past few years?

Risks are undoubtedly increasing. The population is growing, and this demographic pressure is increasing the density of population in risk areas. Urbanization is creating new risk areas, areas vulnerable to earthquakes, for instance. And new construction in such areas often takes place without due concern for the inhabitants' risk. So urbanization and demography are both important factors in the increase of risks. Another aspect is climate change. In recent years there has been a notable tendency towards extreme weather, with increasing numbers of catastrophic storms and floods. While early-warning systems have improved, humanitarian assistance must also adapt, delivering faster responses and better preparation. Urban planning also has to improve, and construction should proceed at a more measured pace.

Of course, but doesn't managing risk also depend on the economic resources available?

Of course, poor countries suffer the most from natural catastrophes, but events in recent years, such as the tsunami in Japan, or hurricane Sandy in New York City, have proven that even very developed areas are often ill prepared. So those countries also need to be thinking along the lines of prevention and planning.

You also have to consider the scale of the disasters. Some of then hit smaller communities-- not all natural disasters are on such a huge scale! For instance, small villages in East Timor can be very hard-hit by flooding, but that won't make prime-time news.

Concretely, how do you take action?

UNISDR is a United Nations agency. Our team consists of around a hundred people working on different campaigns and on coordination Our goal is to attract the attention of policymakers, as well as organizations both private and public, and to ensure they consider prevention and planning. We are betting on a multi-sector approach to preventing natural disaster. We're also in charge of providing information on the consequences, broadly defined, of natural disasters. More specifically, we are preparing the new Agreement on Natural Disasters, which will take effect in 2016; the current one covers 2005 through 2015.

What are the main causes of natural disasters today?

Earthquakes are hard to predict, but we know the location of the seismic fault lines, in Central Asia for example. We know what countries are most at risk. Unfortunately, risk prevention tends to arrive only after a large catastrophe occurs. This was the case in New Zealand after the Christchurch earthquake. This is the problem: the reaction arrives when it's too late. Whereas an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Likewise for climate change. The message we're trying to get across from now on is that the challenge is not just to adapt, but also to act ahead. The tendency is to adapt after the fact, but it's more cost-effective to predict risk, both in the human and economic arenas.

UNISDR is the focal point for the United Nations' natural disaster risk reduction coordination. Can this seem like an impossible task?

Our goal is mainly to sound the alarm, because if no one does anything, we will continue to spend a lot of money for humanitarian aid after the fact, instead of prevention before the fact. It's a vicious cycle. Prevention (at least of natural disasters) would reduce the need for humanitarian aid. For instance, governments often tend to build a hundred schools with shoddy construction instead of 60 high-quality ones. Areas exposed to natural risk should change the way they act. And it's profitable, even economically.

Was the recent collapse of a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed a thousand textile workers, preventable?

Managing risk is also about protecting your employees and creating guidelines for the commercial sector. This is what we explain to the businesses that consult us. Although Dhaka was not a natural disaster, there should have been more inspectors in place to guarantee the security of the building.