The document discusses disaster risk reduction from an international perspective. It summarizes that annual global economic losses from disasters have exceeded $100 billion in recent years due to increased exposure. Europe experiences an average of $13.4 billion in disaster losses annually, making it the third most affected region. Most losses are from weather events like flooding. The Hyogo Framework was adopted in 2005 and outlines five priorities to build disaster resilience, including governance, risk assessment, education, reducing underlying risks, and preparedness. Implementation of the Framework in Europe shows that prevention and risk reduction provide significant economic benefits but underlying risks remain difficult to address. The post-2015 Framework will focus on risk avoidance, reduction, and resilience.

1. Disaster Risk Reduction:
The international perspective
RUSI Resilience Conference 2014
London, UK
14 November 2014
Paola Albrito
Head of Regional Office for Europe
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

2. 2
www.unisdr.org

3. Disaster risk in Europe
• Three consecutive years: annual economic losses
have exceeded $100 billion globally due to enormous
increase in exposure of industrial assets and private
property to extreme disaster events.
II
• Europe’s 10-year average of disaster losses totaling to
US$ 13.4 billion makes it the third most affected region
in the world after the Americas and Asia.
• OECD countries’ disaster economic losses tend to
grow faster than their average GDP growth.
• Most of the damages are due to climatological and
hydrometeorological events.
• Reduced number of casualties, but high economic
losses.

4. Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015:
Building the resilience of nations and
communities to disasters
Five priorities for action
1. Governance: ensure that disaster risk reduction is a
national and local priority with strong institutional basis for
implementation
2. Risk identification: identify, assess and monitor disaster
risks and enhance early warning
3. Knowledge: use knowledge, innovation and education to
build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels
4. Reducing the underlying risk factors in various sectors
(environment, health, construction, etc.)
5. Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response
Words Into Action: A Guide for Implementing the Hyogo Framework
www.unisdr.org/eng/hfa/docs/Words-into-action/Words-Into-Action.pdf

5. Addressing the underlying risk
factors in Europe: HFA Priority 4
• Reducing the underlying risk
factors remains challenging for
several European countries,
including the UK. This is
especially due 4.5
to the difficulties
and costs of addressing
vulnerabilities of existing
developments, especially
infrastructure, and the low
public visibility of such efforts.
3.7 3.8 3.6
3.7 3.6 3.6
3.3 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.2 3.2
3.5
3.9
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1 2 3 4 5
HFA Priority Area
2009
2011
2013

6. Lessons learnt in 10 years of HFA
implementation in Europe
• Disaster prevention and risk reduction – as documented in
the GAR – is a cost effective investment for national and
local governments. The most cost effective measure is good
planning of land use and infrastructure development, which
bring a cost benefit ratio of 1 (invested) to 4 (return).
• Vulnerabilities to disasters are due to multiple factors of
social, political, economic and environmental nature.
Hydrological disaster are the costliest disaster for European
countries, including the UK. Most of them are caused by
degradation of the hydro-geological conditions due to soil
sealing.
• DRR needs coordination and synergy at multiple levels of
governance (international, national and local) and disciplines
(civil protection, defense, public-private partnerships,
environment, health, education, agriculture, etc.)
ERN-AL 2011

7. Emerging trends globally – 2015
Global Assessment Report (GAR15)
Disaster risks globalising :
• Need to reduce generation of new risks.
• Promote economic advantage of investing in DRR/M.
Urbanising risk:
I
• Need to enhance urban risk management and develop resilience.
• Undertake structural and non structural measures to reduce disaster risk,
including housing and land use management with DRR considerations.
Risk governance and translation of policies to practices:
• Still a challenge to factor DRR into public investment, development and social
policies.
• Still lack of coordination and advocacy for public-private partnership and
translate policies into practices.

8. Implications for UK
international aid
Without concrete and fast action, the rising number of disasters
will challenge the capacities and resources for international aid
of the UK as well as the whole international system.
UK should ensure that ODA is not generating new risk
UK should ensure that ODA investments are protected from
disaster risk
UK should invest in prevention domestically now to avoid
draining financial aid budgets in the future.
UK as a thought leader for resilience should actively
participate in the development of the post-2015 framework for
DRR.

9. Post-2015 Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction
Three complementary goals:
1. Risk avoidance – pursuit of a development
path that minimize risk accumulation
2. Risk reduction – reducing existing
accumulated risks
3. Resilience – nations and communities that
can absorb losses, minimize impacts and
bounce forward

11. Thank you
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
UNISDR Regional Office for Europe
UN House, 14 Rue Montoyer
1000 Brussels, Belgium
T: +32 (0) 22 902 588
F: +32 (0) 22 904 950
isdr-europe@un.org
www.unisdr.org
www.unisdr.org/europe