Opening remarks by SRSG Mizutori: ARISE Constituency Session Stakeholder Forum at the GP2022
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Opening remarks by Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction at the ARISE Constituency Session Stakeholder Forum at the GP2022
May 23, 2022
Fellow speakers,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is wonderful to be here in Bali Indonesia with so many of you and to those who are connected online, I send warmest greetings.
The theme of this year’s Global Platform for Disaster Risk reduction is “From Risk to Resilience: A Sustainable Future for all in a COVID transformed world.” The issues that will be taken up this week are relevant for ARISE members and the private sector at large, including the resilience of business, financing, investment and risk knowledge, and climate action.
Importantly, the Global Platform is not a one-way street. It encourages the voices of stakeholders from around the world to step forward and influence key global policy processes. Our session this afternoon will feature speakers from 12 different countries, representing all regions of the world.
Inputs from today’s conversations can shape key outcomes for tomorrow’s results, which is encouraging given the current state of global affairs. This gathering takes place amidst an economic quagmire created by an ongoing pandemic, an escalating climate emergency, and a war that has created a multifaceted, complex crisis in Ukraine and beyond. These intersecting challenges remind us that we live in an interconnected world in which risks compound within complex systems. The result is reverberations, loops, and cascading effects that are increasingly larger and more challenging. Meanwhile, the most vulnerable in our societies feel the effects most strongly.
However, there is an enormous opportunity for the private sector to step up efforts to build more resilient societies. To do so, we must go beyond GDP to measure what we value most – our environment, our health, and our wellbeing. And we must shift to “Thinking Resilience” in all our decisions.
One of the guiding principles of the Sendai Framework is that everyone has an important role to play, including the private sector. UNDRR has seen successful collaboration with the private sector through ARISE, which has grown to over 400 registered members and includes 29 national and regional networks. The recently released ARISE Annual Report 2021 highlights the work of ARISE members, in collaboration with UNDRR, at global and regional levels. I encourage you all to read a copy.
The aim of today’s session is to extrapolate further insight into how the private sector and ARISE can contribute to accelerating DRR and how this engagement can be done in an all-of-society manner. There will be 3 segments covering the four global ARISE priorities: SME resilience, Risk-Informed Investment, Insurance, and Resilient Infrastructure.
I look forward to rich discussions today, which will also provide valuable guidance for the ongoing midterm review of the Sendai Framework, and further our collective efforts towards resilient businesses and communities.
Thank you.