The parliamentary protocol for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation was officially presented

This past March 14th, the Parliamentary Protocol for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation was presented during the 4th Gathering of the ParlAmericas Open Parliament Network. The protocol seeks to guide parliamentary work to meet national disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation needs. This publication is the product of collaboration between ParlAmericas and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – UNDRR – Regional Office for the Americas.

Member of the National Assembly of Ecuador Ana Belén Marín, Vice-President for South America of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and promoter of her country’s Law on Risk Management, highlighted that the “purpose of this publication is to provide parliaments of the hemisphere with a tool aligned with the principles of the Sendai Framework that contributes to legislative dialogue and the exchange of good practices on the creation and modification of legislation related to disaster risk reduction, mitigation, and management.”

This protocol is structured under two chapters. The first presents a series of suggested parliamentary actions for managing disaster risk, linked with the parliamentary functions of legislation, political oversight, and debate and approval of the national budget. The second chapter provides a detailed explanation of each of the priorities for action in the Sendai Framework and its usefulness for parliamentarians.

For Raúl Salazar, Head of the Regional Office of UNDRR – Americas, “important progress has been seen in a great number of countries that have developed regulatory frameworks with a comprehensive approach to managing disaster risk, as the Sendai Framework recommends. It is important for countries in our region to continue with efforts to integrate disaster risk reduction in their national and local regulatory and legislative frameworks, as these help the public and private sectors to advance risk governance, strengthening their institutions and mechanisms to adequately guide, coordinate, and provide oversight for disaster risk reduction and public policies related to this topic.”

“Disasters push millions of people into poverty each year, threatening progress, peace and security, and costing billions of dollars -- and we have the science that tells us that Climate Change is going to increase the frequency and intensity of these disaster events of natural origin,” stated the Honourable Robert Nault, Member of Parliament of Canada and President of ParlAmericas. “This is why tools like this Protocol are so valuable for parliamentarians. It gives us the information we need to more effectively design and approve laws - and hold our governments accountable to implementing those laws - to ensure we are taking measures for comprehensive disaster risk reduction. Now is the time to take action. Our citizens expect this of us and we need to deliver.”

The Protocol is available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.