2 November 2022

 

Dear Mitch,

Dear Excellencies,

Dear colleagues,

Friends

None of us can deny that our planet faces risks never seen since the end of the Ice Age.

Since human culture has been registered, we have not been in such a difficult situation of multifaceted, multilayered, and very integrated set of crises.

Every disaster, every crisis re-confronts us with the fact that by failing to prepare, we are preparing to fail.

Over the last decade, nine out of ten disasters triggered by natural hazards have been water-related, and, unsurprisingly, we still don’t do enough.

In light of these shocking number statistics – and we have many, many of them – my question is, where is the investment in risk prevention?

In average, we know that preventing the crisis is 6 to 10 times cheaper than managing the crisis.

And we are not only talking about money, we are talking about human lives.

How are we working to reduce risk for vulnerable countries?

60 to 70 countries are exposed now to multiple danger, involving debt crisis and natural disasters.

The worst combination we could have.

You know probably what I am going to say, what I am used to saying in these platforms – it is not enough, what we are doing. It is simply not enough.

It is not going to take us to the implementation of the Agenda 2030, it is not going to take us out of the crisis situation.

The problems we are facing are systemic. They require integrated and systemic solutions.

But they won’t come out of the top of a hat. It requires a lot of knowledge, a lot of thinking, a lot of cooperation, investments, and a lot of science.

To implement solutions, science and technology must be harnessed.

We are still not there. A lot has been done already, a lot has been produced and offered to the Member States but in many, many parts of the world, the benefits of the technology and science are still not there, on the ground.

One thing that Covid-19 has taught us is that scientific evidence saves lives.

Actions – government or local actions – based on scientific evidence, saves communities.

We cannot skip that.

We cannot afford to skip that.

During this year, the global stocktaking will take place in a number of areas.

And hopefully, it will be much more than just a stocktaking.

We need to reflect what has been done, what is still missing, and should be done in a different way.

It is not just an inventory of where we are now.

But, also, we need to look for game changers.

What else should we do? How differently should we do our investments? Our policies? Our planning?

Mitch has indicated the Water Conference. Yes, it will be in March, and will be the first since 1977.

It is an opportunity to show that, yes, despite the grave crises we are running into, it is still possible, if we apply integrated solutions, if we use our money, technology and science cleverly, we can still prevent a lot of different faces of the water crisis.

And it will link us to the DRR as well.

DRR will be one of the very important chapters of the March Water Conference.

The second big event will be the midterm review of the Sendai Framework.

I have very, very high hopes towards that event.

We cannot afford to ignore risks and to accept that disasters are inevitable.

We have the power to prevent most of them.

The third will be the biggest event of the year, the “top event” if you will, the SDG Summit in September 2023.

It should give us the convincing proof that we are well-informed, well-prepared and that we are risk-informed, when we try building our resilience towards the next phases of various crises.

Disaster-proof infrastructure for water management, early warning systems, risk knowledge and early action capacity, and transboundary risk governance are all essential and I hope very much that they will find their home and place during different negotiations processes, first and foremost on the DRR.

The UNDRR-WMO report which was released last month turns the spotlight on technology for data collection, analysis, and dissemination; enhanced data availability, and strengthening the early warning-early action value for all our countries.

I hope very much that the proposal by the SG, which I support wholeheartedly, that within 5 years, we need a system that would provide for each and every citizen on this earth, early warning systems coverage.

It is one of the biggest enterprises we can embark on, to save one of the biggest value that we have on this earth: human life.

And I am sure that the political declaration that our good friends the PR of Australia and Indonesia will shepherd, will help us understand that ramping up investment and risk prevention will be one of the best investment we can do in our countries.

So dear colleagues and friends,

 

Let me end with a quote from somebody who knew when to take risks and how to take them: US President John F. Kennedy.

 

He said “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.”

Thank you very much.

Group of Friends on Disaster Risk ReductionI look forward to hearing your feedback on these proposals and am eager to hear your suggestions.