Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly

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Closing of the High-level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

19 May 2023

(As delivered)

I thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

As you may remember in the resolution that has mandated this conference tasked us with wrapping up the conference. And now we have heard an excellent wrap-up of the main messages. And we worked in the background with our teams how to hammer the main messages back home. There is not much left for me but to reconfirm some of the most important messages that the Special Representative has already mentioned to you but let’s recap some of the lessons learned in the last two days.

So Madame Representative, Special Representative,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I symbolically stand before you today, filled with a sense of reassurance and encouragement.

Following the success of the March Water Conference, we have now reached a new milestone for sustainable development.

The discussions that have taken place over the last two days were driven by the spirit of solidarity and cooperation and guided by scientific evidence.

I feel grateful for you and your remarkable effort.

Now is the moment for us to prove that this was not all talk.

That we are serious about translating rhetoric into transformative action – and prioritizing the protection of those most vulnerable to disaster risks.

Surrounded by the realities of unsustainable consumption and risk-blind investing, our path to a sustainable future requires decisive action.

This requires our understanding of the intricate interconnections and interdependencies that exist between water, energy, food, health, trade, the financial systems, and the environment.

Further, understanding the systemic and dynamic nature of risks is equally essential for accelerating implementation ahead of 2030.

We possess the knowledge, the expertise, and the resources to prevent and avert the destructive impacts of disasters.

And, we have the means to immediately respond to the calls in the Political Declaration – calls for a people-centred risk culture that includes those most vulnerable into the planning and implementation aspects of risk evaluation and management.

To do so, we must urgently move away from reactive and short-term thinking towards proactive and comprehensive policies that address vulnerability and uncertainty.

Strategic foresight is better than scrambling to cope with the damage done. Accountability counts. 

To accomplish the ambitious goals of the 2030 Agenda, it is urgent that governments prioritize policy convergence over sectoral silos.

This shift is essential if we want to successfully manage existing and emerging risks.

Indeed, by failing to prepare, we are preparing to fail.

As we close our meeting, I have two suggestionsto make us all more resilient.

Two suggestions that have the potential of changing the game.

Firstly, I call on Member States to develop their permanent risk assessment and management capabilities at the highest national level by 2030. Why and how?

  • A whole-of-society and whole-of-Government approach, supported by scientific validation, can ensure progress on our goals.
  • This would allow a revitalised culture of DRR, to harness local, traditional, and Indigenous expertise, alongside scientific knowledge, and the innovative spirit of young people.
  • Moreover, local and national initiatives should be connected to global risk reduction management.
  • Member States, the UN System and non-state stakeholders should all provide information, resources and expertise to countries that need them.
  • By investing in human and institutional capacities, we can help countries establish groups of risk reduction experts, who could cooperate across local and global scales.
  • The global water information system is an initiative which can provide risk relevant data and scientific assessment to validate policies and investment for resilience and sustainability.
  • It can buttress the framework of risk reduction which experts called for in the Midterm Review, and which I urge Member States to establish by 2030.

Meeting this call requires a major change in the way disaster risk is treated in the global financial system.

We need public and private investments to be incentivized to prevent and reduce disaster risk.

This is also a chance to focus the loss and damage debate on those who will suffer the most: the vulnerable, the young and future generations.

Therefore, secondly, I call on Member States toestablish a facility for “de-risking” in the financial system.

  • Such a facility would address the better integration of disaster risk reduction into the decisions of financial institutions.
  • It would allow for collaboration through lending, debt support, financing streams and grants – particularly for countries facing the most severe economic challenges.
  • It could also support policy development and capacity building on de-risking investments in all countries, while mobilizing much needed financing for disaster risk reduction.
  • Initiating reforms would ensure disaster risks are accounted for, priced, and disclosed in economic, financial and investment decisions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

These reforms could play meaningful role in reconfiguring growth to account for both planetary boundaries and human well-being, as opposed to wealth concentration and risk accumulation. 

Finally, let me reiterate my heartfelt thanks to the Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms. Mami Mizutori, and to all those who contributed to the outcome of this Midterm Review.

Your vision and commitment can propel us to a risk-informed, sustainable, equitable and inclusive future.

The Midterm Review has shown us what must be done, let us now prove that we have the will to do so.

This determination will not only give us a fighting chance to bring the SDGs back on track.

It will also give humanity a vital chance: the prospect of being a part of the future.

Let this time be not a final moment for our proud species, but the start of an age of humility, inclusivity, and sustainable resilience.

I thank you and I congratulate you all.