Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2015)

The 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR15) was launched on the 4^th March 2015 by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the Headquarters of the United Nations, New York. GDRC is a key partner of this important initiative.

The fourth edition of this biennial publication, titled "Making development sustainable: The future of disaster risk reduction" examines whether the way in which disaster risk governance has evolved is appropriate to address increasingly accelerated generation and accumulation of disaster risks. As the HFA (Hyogo Framework of Action)  draws to a close, GAR15 questions whether the way in which disaster risk governance has been approached under the HFA is really fit for purpose in a world threatened by catastrophic increases in disaster risk. In GAR15, new evidence on contemporary patterns and trends in disaster risk is  presented to assess to what extent the Expected Outcome of the HFA has been achieved or not. Conclusions show how disaster risk management can contribute to the transformation of the underlying drivers of risk, and why a reform of disaster risk governance is necessary.

UN Secretary-General warned that “growing global inequality, increasing exposure to natural hazards, rapid urbanization and the overconsumption of energy and natural resources threaten to drive risk to dangerous and unpredictable levels with systemic global impacts.” “We are playing with fire. There is a very real possibility that disaster risk, fuelled by climate change, will reach a tipping point beyond which the effort and resources necessary to reduce it will exceed the capacity of future generations."  This year, he stressed, “The world must find solutions by reaching agreements on disaster risk management, long-term sustainable development goals and climate change."  GAR15 estimates that an investment of US$6 billion annually in disaster risk management would result in avoided losses of US$360 billion over the next 15 years. The report states that this US$6 billion is just 0.1% of total forecast expenditure of US$6 trillion annually on new infrastructure.

In addition to being a key partner of GAR 2015, GDRC’s Professors Dilanthi Amaratunga & Richard Haigh led the  GAR 2015 thematic paper review process as lead editors. They also have contributed to several background papers and input papers.  They will also be taking part at the “Global Risk Trends” Multi-Stakeholder Segment, Working session at the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to be held from 14- 18 March 2015 in Sendai Japan 2015. This event will introduce the GAR 2015 and provide an update on global risk trends and patterns based on results from the first ever probabilistic risk assessment covering the world.  Further details on GAR 2015 is available at: http://www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/2015/en/home/