To advance this consensus into practical measures, participants generated recommendations around topics like coherent planning, multi-hazard early warning systems, the land-water-food nexus, vulnerability reduction and capacity building and tools.
Participants across the thematic topics agreed that “local communities must be at the centre of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.” Participants further identified integrating disaster risk reduction into National Adaptation Plans, and the use of climate information to strengthen national and local disaster risk reduction plans, as key opportunities. The availability and accessibility of scientific evidence, data, knowledge and resources were considered essential to ensuring this integration.
Closing the session, Ms Loretta Hieber Girardet, Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, called on governments and organizations to ensure that the region is not denied the opportunity to prosper because of disasters and climate change, saying:
“Unless we accelerate progress, Asia-Pacific is on course to miss all of the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are constrained by institutional silos, and more importantly, mindset silos. Fortunately, there is a will to break these silos, work more collaboratively, and to integrate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in support of sustainable development.”
The outcomes of the Resilience and Adaptation thematic block were also informed by several events organised during the week. These included a “Co-design Lab for Multilevel Adaptation Planning and Implementation,” a dialogue on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and a workshop on “Stepping up Actions on Delivering a Resilient Future.”
The consolidated recommendations of the thematic block, aptly entitled “A Race We Can Win,” were incorporated into the key messages from Asia-Pacific for the UN Climate Action Summit.
Date:
6 Sep 2019
Sources:
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (UNDRR AP)
Themes:
Climate Change
Regions:
Asia