Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav G20, India
Govt. of India
National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR)

3rd Session of
National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) - 2023

10th - 11th March 2023, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India

NPDRR-2023 Theme: Building Local Resilience in a Changing Climate



Parallel Session 3: Concept Note for Session on Coherence at the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR)

Background

The world is at a tipping point and the challenges before us are vast. Risks as perceived by communities are complex and inter-linked. Over 17 million people were displaced globally by disasters in 2018 alone . According to the World Bank, climate change could force 40 million in South Asia to permanently relocate internally by 2050. There is a surging frequency, intensity and unpredictability of extreme weather events and disasters. While disaster death tolls are slowly declining on the whole, the numbers of affected people, destroyed livelihoods and economic losses are growing. The changing climate is wreaking havoc in the most vulnerable coastal, island and mountain areas. Our cities are expanding faster than we plan, leading to haphazard development. Millions of people continue to live in abject poverty with little access to basic services.

Yet, against this backdrop, the post-2015 frameworks provide an opportunity for joint, cohesive action. Together, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Paris Agreement on climate change, World Humanitarian Summit and Habitat III on urban issues cover a spectrum of risks. In a significant shift, they even acknowledge and cross-reference each other, looking at underlying vulnerabilities and cross-cutting issues. Combined with the weight given to various stakeholders, particularly civil society, it is the start of a path forward to build a more resilient world.Coherence of global frameworks has been on the agenda of the Government of India as well. NITI Ayog has carried out initial work for adoption of SDGs by various ministries and departments. It has also developed SDG India Index that ranks States and UTs based on their performance against 62 indicators. While Paris Agreement provisions have been covered under Goal 13, the issues related to resilience have not been adequately covered as the convergence with SFDRR is only at indicator level.

In light ofthe changing nature of disaster risks in the region, a ‘resilience lens’ needs to be added to view these global frameworks. Accordingly, the preferred pathway for the country would be to adopt a coherence-based approach to finding long term solutions that allow sustainable and resilient development. This pathway will then have to manifest in existing policy and programmes of the Government as well brought to practice with the aid of civil society.

To build on this conversation and arrive at actionable measures for all the relevant stakeholders to make these global frameworks coherent and convergent, SEEDS proposes to organize a panel session at the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) scheduled during May 5-6, 2020. This will be a 90-minute session moderated by a senior staff member from SEEDS and have panellists from the Government, UN, academia, industry, civil society, and media. Each panellist will get about 10-minutes to speak and about 20-minutes will be reserved for interaction with the audience.

This session will be preceded by two pre-events tentatively planned as follows:

Pre-Event I: ‘Leaving No One Behind’, March 19, 2020, New Delhi

Pre-Event II: ‘Green Growth’, April 21, 2020, Bengaluru