Financing for Disaster Risk Reduction and Risk-Informed Approaches to Investing across the SDGs, 13 April 2021

By April 6, 2021 April 6, 2021 Events

  • When: 13 April 2021, 7:30AM – 8:45AM (New York time)
  • Registration: To register for this event, please click here.

On 13 April 2021,  the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) Development Cooperation Team, and the Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends for Disaster Risk Reduction are co-hosting a discussion on ‘Financing for Disaster Risk Reduction and Risk-Informed Approaches to Investing across the SDGs‘. This will be a side event for the Forum on Financing for Development, hosted by United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) between 12 and 15 April, 2021.

Objective

The event will bring together a variety of development finance practitioners, including from Governments, development cooperation agencies, international financial institutions (IFIs) and the private sector, to discuss a comprehensive approach to financing disaster risk reduction (DRR) that is responsive to country needs, particularly in the time of COVID-19.

Practitioners will highlight the unique roles each sector can play in developing this approach, and identify recommendations on a way forward, including on the implementation of national DRR financing strategies and resilient investment. Discussions will draw on insights from the 2021 Financing for Sustainable Development Report, recent and upcoming UNDRR reports on risk-informed investing and reducing risk and building resilience of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and analytical work of the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF).

Agenda

Moderator: Mr. Shaun Tarbuck, Chief Executive, International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF)

1. Opening Remarks

  • Ms. Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for DRR, UNDRR
  • Mr. Navid Hanif, Director of Financing for Sustainable Development Office, DESA
  • H.E. Dr. Fiona Webster, Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations, Co-Chair of the Group of Friends for Disaster Risk Reduction

2. Panel Discussion

  • Ms. Gladys Mamtee Osabutey, Chief Economic Officer, Head of UN System Unit, Ministry of Finance, Ghana
  • Mr. Raditya Jati, Acting Deputy Minister for System and Strategy, National Authority for Disaster Management, Indonesia
  • Ms. Martina Macpherson, Head of ESG Strategy, ODDO BHF Asset Management
  • Mr. Rob Wesseling, President and CEO, The Co-Operators Group

3. Lead Discussant

  • Representative from the Sendai Framework Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism

4. Interactive Discussion

  • Questions for participants and interactive discussion with the panel

Guiding Questions

  1. How can governments ensure that financing for COVID-19 recovery supports DRR?
  2. What are the main elements of a national DRR financing strategy and how can they be used to bring together all sources of financing for DRR and ensure all public and private investments are risk-informed? How might they look in different country contexts?
  3. What are some good practices from bilateral and multilateral development cooperation that is risk-informed and climate-smart and aligned with national sustainable development and DRR strategies? How can development cooperation, both financial and non-financial, best support the implementation of national DRR strategies?
  4. What type of risk assessment tools need to be developed or adapted, and what capacities need to be built, so that the financial sector can consider disaster risk in their investment decisions? How can the creation or reduction of disaster risk be included as a performance indicator for investors?
  5. How can the insurance sector better promote/incentivize behavior that reduces rather than creates disaster risk?
  6. What kind of data, information, standards and regulations are needed to ensure private sector investments do not create disaster risk and to ensure disaster risk is shared equitably between the public and private sectors in blended finance agreements?