Risk Returns

[

] 18

to planning, financing and development, allowing a new

perspective on risk governance to open up.

Redefining development: the way forward

Major development investments are needed to assist

countries to address the structural causes of poverty,

upgrade informal settlements, build risk-reducing

infrastructure, improve natural resource management,

and strengthen governance at all levels. Both DRR and

climate change adaptation need to be integrated into

national development planning and investment, and

local governance should be strengthened and partner-

ships with civil society facilitated.

The formulation and adoption of international stand-

ards for disaster loss accounting and risk estimation

may provide additional incentives for countries to take

ownership of their risks. Factoring disaster risk consid-

erations into national planning and public investment

decisions can radically scale up risk reduction.

Acknowledging and understanding risk is the respon-

sibility of every government. The HFA provides a general

roadmap to achieving substantial reductions in disaster

losses, but countries now need to set their own specific

goals and targets. The time for taking serious action is now.

Climate change adaption represents a new opportunity to

advance DRR. In December 2010, for example, the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Parties

agreed to the Cancún Adaptation Framework, which calls for

climate change-related DRR strategies and consideration of the HFA

in particular.

Reforming risk governance

Over the past twenty years, many countries have adopted a decen-

tralized approach to DRR. Most DRR functions require local level

planning and implementation, and the HFA itself calls for the

decentralization of authority and resources to promote commu-

nity-level DRR.

DRR needs to be facilitated by appropriate risk governance

arrangements and the role of a national policy cannot be overesti-

mated. It must be clear and comprehensive, yet detailed enough to

define the roles and responsibilities of different actors in develop-

ment sectors as well as local governments.

Scaling up local initiatives therefore requires new capacities and

skills in local and central Government institutions. It also requires a

cultural shift in the attitude of municipal governments, contractors

and non-governmental organizations towards working in partnership

with low-income households and their representative organizations.

Cities are also learning from one another about innovative approaches

The coastal defence system in Male’, Maldives protected the island capital from the 2004 tsunami.

Image: Julio Serje