European Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction, 24-26 November 2021

Start thinking and acting differently about disasters

Climate impacts are growing in frequency and intensity. In the past few months, heavy rains over Central Europe submerged entire streets, including in Germany and Belgium with devastating destruction of critical infrastructure affecting many people. Greece, Turkey and Montenegro witnessed intense wildfires, impacting many and also affecting tourism locations.

The European Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction 2021 (The EFDRR 2021), the main regional gathering of the disaster risk reduction community in Europe and Central Asia organized by the UN, will bring together representatives from 55 Member States at all government levels as well as stakeholders and partners across Europe and Central Asia on reducing disaster risk.

Learning from the pandemic and building a pathway in the face of climate emergency to change that delivers a resilient future will be the focus of the Forum, taking place on 24-26 November 2021. The EFDRR is the only forum in Europe that brings together decision-makers from national and local governments from all over Europe and Central Asia committed to think and act differently to reduce disaster risks and the underlying vulnerability and exposure.

The event is hosted by the government of Portugal and organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, in collaboration with the European Commission and Council of Europe. The topic of DRR and resilience has never been so relevant to the political agendas of countries and partners across the European and Central Asian region, especially in the face of the systemic impact of climate change.

Key topics on the agenda will be systemic risks and the issues of financing long term resilience. The meeting will also offer an opportunity sharing lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis that exposed systemic risks in unprecedented scales. The leaders at national, regional and community levels are invited to showcase good practices in their area of responsibility.

Building up the EU's resilience for a better future

The triennial forum has been assembling key actors from Europe and Central Asia to discuss the issues of building greater resilience both globally and across the region. There has been encouraging progress already made to date in the implementation of the Sendai Framework which will be discussed during the forum.

This year’s forum is different to previous gatherings, however. All countries are simultaneously managing the worst disaster this generation has experienced – the COVID-19 pandemic. National governments have taken a leading role in a crisis that also required international cooperation as well as cooperation with the local governance level to manage it effectively.

As part of commitments made through the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and contributing directly to implementing the 2030 SD Agenda, national and local governments are developing robust resilience strategies. UNDRR, as the custodian of the SFDRR and focal point for disaster resilience in the UN system, supports cities at the frontline of such disasters, bridging the gap with local resilience policy through the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative.

During the upcoming European Forum, disaster risk governance will be high on the agenda with dedicated sessions on Sendai Framework’s Target E on risk governance and on “Leveraging Local Level Resilience” featuring focus on MCR2030. The Discussions will bring together different local, national and regional governments on how to get better prepared for the events we saw this year in our region. The session dedicated to MCR2030 will include experiences from Barcelona, Spain, a city preparing to become one of the first Resilience Hubs in the region, supporting their peers in building resilience; the Municipality of Amadora, Portugal, on its work with other cities as part of national Platform for DRR; the Central Bosnian Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on their efforts to assess resilience at a local level; as well as specialists discussing local resilience finance and resources to support cities joining the Making Cities Resilient 2030 partnership.

The priorities that have been set out for the conference include:

• Learning the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for managing disaster risk
• Building back better in the face of intensifying impacts of climate change
• Committing to greater action on prevention and a transformational approach to disaster resilience
• Adopting a new Roadmap 2021-2030 for a Disaster-Resilient European and Central Asian Region that will support the region to implement the Sendai Framework until 2030.

The EFDRR provides opportunities for member states to profile progress to date in Sendai Framework implementation. EFDRR will demonstrate how the Sendai Framework contributes to reduce risk in Europe, and that coupled with new commitments and a transformational approach to DRR, it will contribute to a greater resilience.

Now is the time to work together for increased public awareness for action on disaster resilience, supporting education and creating a culture of risk prevention.

Learn more about upcoming event: EFDRR website https://efdrr.undrr.org/