The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
Global disaster risk reduction activities have been informed by the efforts of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). Until 2015, UNISDR coordinated the implementation of the Hyogo Frame- work for Action: 2005-2015 (HFA), which was organised around the main challenges that countries face in terms of natural disaster risk management. These challenges include: (1) improved risk assessment based on a multi-hazard and multi-risk approach; (2) a more vigorous pursuit of multi-sector partnerships (MSPs); and (3) improved financial and disaster risk reduction (DRR) schemes.
As a follow-up to the HFA, the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR, 14–18 March 2015, Sendai, Japan) identified new commitments and targets, which led to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The first four targets of the Sendai Framework aim to reduce the impact of future disasters, mortality, economic damage, and damage to health and educational facilities. Other targets aim to extend local and national DRR strategies, and are an extension of the HFA’s call for better coordination of disaster risk activities with development and other sectorial policies (UNISDR, 2015).
In addition, DRR has received increasing attention as a response to climate change. The Paris Agreement, negotiated at the end of 2016 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), sets a global goal of adaptation for the first time to build adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability to climate change. This new policy emphasises that responses must account for local, subnational, national, regional, and international dimensions and actors across scales. One particular issue in relation to disaster risk is the ‘loss and damage’ discussion, which has also been formally recognised with the inclusion of the ‘Warsaw Loss and Damage Mechanism’ into the agreement. This mechanism informs the action of efforts beyond adaptation, and in addition to discussing responsibility and liability, a large part of the debate has focused on bolstering comprehensive DRR.
