Mapping resilience for the Sustainable Development Goals

Heeey there! Yawnnnn Welcome to EGreenNews! Ariel here, with my AI bestie Ariel and booth are computer generated avatars made in a computer, can you believe that? Today: GAR Special Report 2023: Mapping resilience for the Sustainable Development Goals. Anywayss, buckle up! ARIEL 2: Mmmhmm! Leans in Did you know that this UN report says disasters are actually reversing global development? That means all the progress we've made is being wiped out by these events! Wild, right? ARIEL 1: Sooo... all the efforts to make the world better are being undone by disasters? Like, all that hard work is going to waste? Seriously? ARIEL 2: Ooooh! That's the gist of it. The report, which is the UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, or GAR 2023, highlights that growing inequalities and pressures on the planet are making things worse. And humanitarian needs are rising because of all the suffering caused by disasters and conflict. ARIEL 1: That sounds really depressing. Is there any good news? Can we actually do anything about it? Geez Louise! ARIEL 2: Yaaas, queen! The report emphasizes that we can strengthen our resilience – our ability to withstand and bounce back from shocks. One key thing they mention is investing in early warning systems. In vulnerable areas, the benefits of these systems can be triple what you put in because they're so good at reducing damage. ARIEL 1: Early warning systems? Like knowing a hurricane is coming so people can evacuate? ARIEL 2: Exactly! And the report says that if we want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, building resilience needs to be the foundation of everything we do – in our societies and how we govern. Otherwise, poverty and inequality will just keep getting worse. ARIEL 1: So it's not just about reacting to disasters, but building strength beforehand? ARIEL 2: Precisely! The report talks about the "climate polycrisis" – how the impacts of climate change are making existing hazards more intense and frequent, and how these overlap with other problems like conflict and epidemics, creating even bigger crises. Mapping resilience for the Sustainable Development Goals Disasters are reversing global development. Urgent action is needed to build resilience into every decision we make. Growing inequities and pressures on the planet are reversing hard-won development gains. Humanitarian needs are also rising, as disasters and conflict create enormous human suffering. The UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2023) highlights how resilience can be strengthened to withstand and respond to shocks. This includes investments in early warning systems where the benefits triple in vulnerable contexts because of their proven ability to reduce damage. Read the report (PDF) If we are to achieve the SDGs, it is vital that we act to build resilience through our societies and governance models. Otherwise, poverty and inequality will continue. This report demonstrates that action is possible in every region. Both to reduce risk and create positive feedback loops. Ms. Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Addressing the climate polycrisis The impacts of climate change are causing existing hazard events to become more intense and occur with greater frequency. These impacts combine with other risks and threats such as conflict, epidemics or inflation, creating compound crises, a phenomenon increasingly referred to as a polycrisis. To reverse a downward spiral, countries and communities need to build systems that can prevent or better manage risk. This ability to withstand risk, and recover from disasters, in a manner that is transformative and bounces forward, is at the root of resilience. Definitions of resilience - people, planet, prosperity The GAR 2023 calls for resilience to be the foundation of efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by addressing ‘resilience deficits’ across all goals, ensuring a balance between people (social resilience), planet (environmental resilience), and prosperity (economic resilience): People Access to disaster early-warning systems Increasing drought risk and food insecurity Forced displacement and negative education outcomes Planet Increasing water stress and population growth Increase land degradation and biodiversity loss Increased heat stress and energy consumption Increased air pollution and mortality Prosperity Increasing flood risk and urbanization Increasing heat and poverty Risk of climate change to coastal infrastructure The report makes a number of recommendations for the unprecedented scaling-up of resilience investment and adaptation from both public and private sectors, particularly for the most vulnerable countries. Mapping resilience deficits and showcasing positive actions The maps in this report highlight a number of these resilience deficits that are holding back achievement of key Sustainable Development Goals. The report’s action case examples show that this is not inevitable, and how action is possible on every continent to stop the worsening spiral of risk and disasters and to accelerate SDG target achievement. See high-resolution versions of the maps Resilience deficit: People The number of recorded disasters has increased fivefold over the past 50 years and this trend is accelerating. Exposure is increasing in countries where there is already a large number of people affected by disasters. Early warnings for all Provided risk reduction measures are taken, increased exposure does not necessarily need to result in increasing casualties and economic costs. Early-warning systems (EWS) are already proving themselves effective in reducing the impact of hazards. 62 million people directly affected by disaster in the last two decades live in countries without operational EWS. This means that without increased investment in resilience-building through extending early-warning-system coverage, developing countries are projected to have higher numbers of people affected by hazards as population growth continues. Fortunately most of the countries with the greatest exposure to hazards already have early warning systems. These systems are already proving themselves effective in reducing the impact of hazards. However, even in places where early warning systems are in place, many have gaps , which need to be urgently addressed. The United Nations Secretary-General launched the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Initiative in 2022, to ensure the whole world is covered by an EWS by the end of 2027. To save lives and livelihoods, EWSs need to be multi-hazard and connected to early action. Action case: Barbados – Fully exploiting the potential of early-warning systems As a Caribbean island, Barbados is regularly exposed to numerous hazards, including floods and hurricanes. In 2021, the island was affected by ash coming from a volcanic eruption in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which led to closure of the main airport, while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and was shortly after hit by Hurricane Elsa, the first hurricane to affect Barbados in over 65 years. The country’s early warning system combines data sources ranging from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to Google Play to reduce the impact of all types of meteorological hazards, and integrates disease forecasting – demonstrating the expansive capacity and versatility of these systems. Barbados early warning system Countering the impacts of a drying living environment The GAR 2023 shows drought is dramatically increasing with knock-on effects on global food security, employment and education. Droughts have already resulted in two billion people now living under water stress and an 80% increase in the risk of crop failure and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Action case: Sahel region – Accelerating the greening of the Sahara through the Great Green Wall initiative A Great Green Wall (GGW) of vegetation is being created along the southern edge of the Sahara, as a durable response to counter desertification, and improve the livelihoods of the people who are largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture and livestock. The planting of GGW vegetation provides numerous benefits as it sequesters carbon and improves water retention, thus lowering the risk of floods and improving soil productivity. The vegetation also provides shade and food for animals. While the GGW mitigates droughts and floods and provides a range of economic and social benefits, managing slow-onset variables requires constant review and adaptation. Resilience deficit: Planet People can only prosper in a world where natural systems are nurtured and sustained. Several SDG targets are designed to “protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.” Living on a hotter planet Without action to tackle more frequent and intense heat, the next generation are being condemned to bleaker future with 920 million children exposed to water scarcity in 2020 alone, one of several hazards that is driving the displacement of millions of children in developing countries. Action case: India – Combating heat using a participatory approach India has implemented heat action plans (HAPs) in cities across the country to reduce exposure, save lives and reduce over-reliance on air conditioning, through the broad participation of the public and local governments. Since the success of the first HAP in Ahmedabad, in 2013, the programme has expanded to 23 of India’s most heat-prone states. HAPs have been credited with saving thousands of lives – largely due to their participatory and flexible approach. Resilience deficit: Prosperity Ensuring that “all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature” is a central facet of the Sustainable Development Goals. Several key SDG targets highlight the importance of ensuring current and future prosperity across the globe. There are cascading impacts on the labour market as temperatures rise and it becomes simply too hot to work. Labour productivity is halved at 34°C with productivity losses equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs when the world surpasses 1.5°C of warming, pushing ever greater numbers of people into poverty. Infrastructure adaptation With over 80 per cent of the volume of global trade in goods carried by sea, seaports are key nodes in the network of global supply chains, providing critical access to global markets. Global port-specific risk from natural hazards has been estimated at US$ 7.5 billion per year, with 32 per cent of the risk attributed to tropical cyclone impacts, and an additional US$ 63.1 billion of trade estimated to be at risk. Maritime trade is expected to triple by 2050 and climate-driven hazards are likely to increase, so significant acceleration of investment in climate change adaptation and resilience-building for ports is needed. Major scaling-up of affordable investment in infrastructure adaptation will be critical for developing countries, particularly vulnerable small island developing states (SIDS) that are sea-locked and therefore rely especially on their ports and airports. Action case: Jamaica and Saint Lucia – Safeguarding ports with long-term investment Flooding and hurricanes are expected to intensify in Jamaica and Saint Lucia. Economic losses due to storms and floods amount to approximately 7 per cent of GDP in Jamaica and 2 per cent in Saint Lucia – primarily due to the interruption of operations at the ports and airports in the country, and damage caused to infrastructure. Both countries have developed long-term plans and governance structures to solicit investments to upgrade their transportation networks, offsetting the steadily increasing pressures caused by climate change, and key to generating economic growth. Urgent action is needed to build resilience for sustainable development The GAR 2023 calls for the unprecedented scaling-up of resilience investment and adaptation from both public and private sectors, particularly for the most vulnerable countries. Delay will increase the costs: action is needed now. Readjusting development pathways requires re-examining how prosperity is measured, and greater emphasis on resilience as key to sustainable development today and in the future. The following are key lessons from this report: Hard-won economic and developments gains are in danger from the growing number of disasters, with global heating the prime contributor. The GAR 2023 report presents new analysis mapping hazards and disasters such as drought and sea-level rise, showing a dramatic rise, with knock-on effects on global food security, employment and education. The impacts cascade onto the labour market as temperatures rise and it simply becomes too hot to work. Labour productivity is halved at 34°C, and an estimated 80 million full-time jobs will be lost if the world surpasses 1.5°C of warming, pushing ever greater numbers of people into poverty. Climate impacts also led to 920 million children exposed to water scarcity in 2020, a major hazard resulting in displacement. Extreme weather events in 2022, such as the Pakistan floods and the Horn of Africa drought, led to 12 million displacements of children, in countries with some of the world’s lowest literacy rates. Investing earlier in resilience and adaptation can avoid costs of hazard impacts, and save lives and resources. Replacing destroyed crops, infrastructure and electricity networks costs more than preventing disasters in the first place. Resilience can be strengthened to withstand and respond to shocks. This includes investments in early warning systems, with which the benefits triple in vulnerable contexts because of their proven ability to reduce damage. Currently, In East and North-East Asia, for instance, disaster losses would be reduced by an estimated US$67 billion a year. Countries can learn from examples explored in the GAR like the Cidanau Watershed in Indonesia, which introduced payments to farmers to converse biodiversity and fresh water supplies. Other examples include the Great Green Wall to counteract desertification in the Sahel, and measures taken by Small Island Developing States facing sea level rise. Building resilience will require the unprecedented scaling-up of resilience investment and adaptation from both public and private sectors, particularly for the most vulnerable countries. Delay will increase the costs: action is needed now. Pathways to making sustainable development choices By addressing risks and building resilience, we can strike a balance between the needs of people, the planet and prosperity for future generations. Learn more in the full report (PDF) Changes are needed to flip systems that are creating risk and instead build resilience as the bedrock for sustainable development. And to guide these changes, countries and development partners need to look beyond single SDG indicators to consider the overall impact on people, the planet and prosperity. Measuring what is valued reflects societal priorities and provides the basis for the policies to follow. This is why it has never been more important that we understand how to measure and achieve resilience. We hope this report will advance this approach and spark the changes needed to achieve development that is resilient for all. Mami Mizutori Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reductio ARIEL 1: A "climate polycrisis"? That sounds really complicated. ARIEL 2: It is! So, countries and communities need to build systems that can either prevent these risks or manage them much better. That ability to withstand, recover, and even bounce forward after a disaster is what resilience is all about. ARIEL 1: So it's about being strong enough to take a hit and then get back on your feet, even stronger than before? ARIEL 2: That's the idea! The GAR 2023 says we need to tackle "resilience deficits" in everything we do, balancing the needs of people, the planet, and prosperity. ARIEL 1: "Resilience deficits"? What are those? ARIEL 2: Think of them as weaknesses that make us more vulnerable. For people, it could be a lack of access to early warning systems or increasing food insecurity due to drought. For the planet, it could be things like water stress or biodiversity loss. And for prosperity, it could be the risk of floods in cities or the impact of heat on people's ability to work. ARIEL 1: So the report actually maps out where these weaknesses are around the world? ARIEL 2: It does! And it also gives examples of positive actions that are happening on every continent to build resilience and stop this downward spiral of risk and disasters, helping us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. ARIEL 1: That's good to hear! So it's not all doom and gloom – there are things that are working? ARIEL 2: Absolutely! For example, Barbados is fully using the potential of early warning systems by combining all sorts of data to prepare for different kinds of hazards. And in the Sahel region, the Great Green Wall initiative is helping to fight desertification and improve people's lives. ARIEL 1: The Great Green Wall! I've heard of that. Planting trees to stop the desert from spreading. That's a cool idea! ARIEL 2: Exactly! And in India, they're using participatory approaches to combat heatwaves and save lives. And Jamaica and Saint Lucia are investing in upgrading their ports to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change. ARIEL 1: It sounds like there are solutions out there, but we need to scale them up and invest in them more. ARIEL 2: That's the main message of the report. We urgently need to scale up investments in resilience and adaptation from both governments and the private sector, especially for the countries that are most vulnerable. Delaying action will just make things more expensive in the long run. ARIEL 1: So it's about making smart choices now to protect the future? ARIEL 2: Exactly! The report says we need to rethink how we measure progress and put a much bigger emphasis on resilience as the key to sustainable development for today and for future generations. ARIEL 1: Sooo confusing, right? Learn more @EGreenNews! What surprised you more - that disasters are reversing global development or that there are already examples of successful resilience-building around the world? ARIEL 2: And before we leave, lets give a big Shoutout to the people at EGreenNews, including its founder, Hugi Hernandez for promoting transparency 24×7! Mmm, who knows, maybe you can find them on the web or linkedin. But anyways, please,always remember to be good with yourself. So bye for now, aand we hope we see you next time! ARIEL 1: So its great to be here with you ariel and thanks for having me, ciao ciao!