Official Opening Ceremony of the 8th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland

Official Opening Ceremony of the 8th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland

The human cost of disasters includes lost livelihoods, homes, and cultural ties to landscapes. Where livelihoods are already fragile and being eroded, a disaster-induced displacement of even a few days can damage economic opportunities for years to come.

Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and head of UNDRR, opened the 8th Global Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction highlighting the exceptional urgency and importance of delivering on the Sendai Framework. He underscored how communities were coming together and the need to learn from their initiatives, imagination, and resourcefulness, and called for commitment from all actors.

Recalling the recent loss of a Swiss village to a glacier landslide, Amina J. Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, commented that early warning saves lives but cannot save glaciers from disappearing. She stressed that disasters and their cascading effects annually cost up to USD 3.2 trillion and noted that record-breaking disasters make entire regions uninsurable. She called for risk-informed development across all sectors; scaled-up public and private investments in resilience; and national financial frameworks that align with adaptation needs.

Ignazio Cassis, Minister, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland, observed that Risk today is everywhere. Fires are where wetlands were centuries ago, noting that the Global Platform 2025 is the last Global Platform before the 2030 deadline, he urged that countries deliver on the Sendai Framework, apply science and artificial intelligence, and adopt risk mitigation metrics to mobilize and foster resources.

The opening event again placed the spotlight on the risk landscape platform which is becoming increasingly complex and requires the strengthening of national DRR platforms and inclusion of risk reduction into national policies and frameworks.