Europe starts Sendai roadmap talks

PARIS, 7 October 2015 – Europe has begun three days’ of talks that will play a key role in driving forward its implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The 6th Annual Meeting of the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction, which runs until Friday, brings together experts from 28 countries within the European Union and beyond, as well as representatives of the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

The aim is to craft a roadmap for Europe’s implementation of the Sendai Framework, a 15-year plan adopted by the international community in March this year and which aims to reduce substantially the number of lives lost in and the economic damage inflicted by natural and man-made hazards.

With France currently at the helm of the European Forum – and painfully aware of disaster risk after deadly flooding last weekend in the country’s southeast -- the opening session was chaired by Ms. Ségolène Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.

“We need to have a far more developed culture of risk,” Ms. Royal told participants.

“Today, climate events are much more frequent and much more intense,” she said, underlining that the forum comes just weeks before the start of the COP21 UN climate conference, hosted by Paris in December.

The Sendai Framework and the COP21 process are part of a four-track global effort to make development more sustainable.

Last month, world leaders assembled at the United Nations in New York to adopt “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, a package of 17 interlinked goals that aim, by 2030, to eradicate extreme poverty, promote prosperity and people's well-being, while protecting the environment. And in July, the had backed the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development.

“The first step to implementing the Sendai Framework, of course, is to understand the risks faced,” Ms. Margareta Wahlström, head of UNISDR, told the European Forum.

“We now know that globally, disaster losses have increased to US$250-300 billion a year and that over 80% of economic losses from disasters are due to weather-related hazards,” she said.

Presenting her condolences to France over the loss of at least 19 lives in the recent flash floods, she underlined that Europe has certainly not been spared the impact of hazards.

“Last year in Europe, the number of hydrological disasters showed a 45% increase compared to its decennial average. Damages from disasters in Europe in 2014 amounted to US$7.8 billion. Nine floods in Europe last year cost US$100 billion each, in addition to the 2014 flooding in Serbia which proved to be one of the costliest disasters with damages running up to US$2 billion,” she said.

The annual European Forum has catalysed the continent’s efforts to build resilience to disasters.

Thirty-two European countries now have a legal framework on disaster risk reduction, compared to five in 2005. And there are now 650 European communities in UNISDR’s flagship Making Cities Resilient network, against 32 in 2010.

“The engagement and knowledge of European Union member states and engagement of the European Commission have been a driving force for disaster risk reduction for over two decades,” Ms. Wahlström said.

In a video address to the European Forum, Mr. Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said: “The Sendai framework sets the world on a clear path for enhanced disaster resilience. It is now our collective responsibility to implement Sendai. To match words with action.”

The European Commission – the executive of the 28-nation European Union – is set next year to issue its own action plan for implementing the Sendai Framework, he noted.

“European countries have been successfully cooperating on disaster risk management for a decade: on risk knowledge, on risk assessment, on exchange of best practices. Through environment, civil protection, humanitarian aid, and development policies,” Mr. Stylianides said.

“The EU is now called to play a leading role in further promoting the disaster risk management agenda. We need a risk-informed approach for all EU policies. We need to further engage with the private sector. The civil society. The scientific community.”

“Disaster risk management policies are essential to ensure sustainable development and economic growth. And we need to continue to cooperate closely with all countries of the wider European region. To share experience and improve their capacity for preventing disasters,” he said.