Context

• This article highlights the issue of ever growing disasters and India’s role in disaster risk reduction with its G20 presidency.

Recent instances of disasters

• Recently three continents were gripped by heat waves. 
• Massive forest fires have ravaged parts of Greece and Canada. 
• The river Yamuna breached the highest flood level, recorded 45 years ago, and inundated parts of Delhi.

Issues in disaster risk reduction

• Respond than to prevent: For too long, countries have spent billions responding to disasters rather than paying a little upfront to prevent or reduce their impact.
• Not much progress: Although progress has been made in Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which is the global road map for reducing disaster risks and losses, we are not where we need to be. 

What is needed?

• The world needs to do more to prevent the risk of losses from all disasters, whether they are weather-related, earthquakes, or biological ones like COVID-19. 
• With a renewed sense of urgency and a people-centered approach, we can significantly reduce disaster losses by 2030.

India’s initiatives and their significance

• India has established the first G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group.
  • As human vulnerability to disasters is strongly linked to economic decisions, the G20 is in a unique position to chart a new path of disaster risk-informed decision-making. 
    • Because the countries that make up the G20 hold around 85% of the global GDP and about two-thirds of the world population. 
  • By this means apart from considering the potential impact of economic decisions on disaster risks, it also leverages economic tools to reduce existing risks and prevent new ones. 
  • The priorities identified by the G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group are in direct support of the calls to action of the May 2023 Political Declaration of the UN General Assembly on the midterm review of the Sendai Framework. 
• India is working to realize the goal of the UN Secretary General’s Early Warnings for All Initiative, which seeks to create universal coverage for everyone by the end of 2027.
• India launched with the UN in 2019 the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, to spur policy development and capacity support for disaster resilient infrastructure, especially in developing countries. 
• India is currently collaborating to create a global methodology for conducting infrastructure resilience reviews and stress testing, based on the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure.

Priorities of G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group

Enhancing early warning systems

• Inclusive and multi-hazard early warning systems are among the most effective means of reducing disaster deaths and economic losses. 
  • For example, during Cyclone Biparjoy, effective systems for end-to-end early warning and action helped achieve zero deaths from the event in India. 
• Disruptive technologies can be made use of by many countries to leapfrog into a regime where they can use global capacity for forecasting to meet local needs. 

Resilient infrastructure

• Every country can withstand climate and disaster risks from assessing and enhancing the resilience of its critical infrastructure.
• Resilient infrastructure becomes the lifeline of recovery during a crisis. 

Financing for disaster risk reduction

• Developing a new approach to financing disaster risk reduction is needed to transform risk reduction plans into concrete actions. 
• This effort must be led by finance and economy ministries in collaboration with the private sector because the current funding deficit for disaster risk reduction is too large for governments to manage alone.
• Using risk metrics to allocate resources at the sub-national and local levels for disaster risk reduction needs to be studied and scaled. Eg: India and Indonesia.

Way forward

• Brazil, which will assume the Presidency of the G20 in December will have to build on these areas of work which India have started, scaling up ecosystem-based approaches and enhancing national and local response capacities.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-big-step-in-reducing-the-risk-of-disasters/article67115442.ece#:~:text=Pradesh%20High%20Court-,Early%20warning%20systems,disaster%20deaths%20and%20economic%20losses.