Abstract
The first international conference for the post-2015 United Nations landmark agreements (Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, Sustainable Development Goals, and Paris Agreement on Climate Change) was held in January 2016 to discuss the role of science and technology in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. The UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 aimed to discuss and endorse plans that maximize science’s contribution to reducing disaster risks and losses in the coming 15 years and bring together the diversity of stakeholders producing and using disaster risk reduction (DRR) science and technology. This article describes the evolution of the role of science and technology in the policy process building up to the Sendai Framework adoption that resulted in an unprecedented emphasis on science in the text agreed on by 187 United Nations member states in March 2015 and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in June 2015. Contributions assembled by the Conference Organizing Committee and teams including the conference concept notes and the conference discussions that involved a broad range of scientists and decision makers are summarized in this article. The conference emphasized how partnerships and networks can advance multidisciplinary research and bring together science, policy, and practice; how disaster risk is understood, and how risks are assessed and early warning systems are designed; what data, standards, and innovative practices would be needed to measure and report on risk reduction; what research and capacity gaps exist and how difficulties in creating and using science for effective DRR can be overcome. The Science and Technology Conference achieved two main outcomes: (1) initiating the UNISDR Science and Technology Partnership for the implementation of the Sendai Framework; and (2) generating discussion and agreement regarding the content and endorsement process of the UNISDR Science and Technology Road Map to 2030.
Highlights
The Evolving Relationship Between Science and Disaster Risk ReductionThe year 2015 was a historic year in global policy with the publication of three landmark UN agreements:(1) The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (Sendai Framework) that aims to reduce disaster losses in lives, livelihoods, and health, adopted in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan by 187 United Nations (UN) member states; (2) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—successors of the Millennium Development Goals— agreed in September 2015 in New York, USA by 193 countries; and (3) The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, agreed on in December 2015 at the Paris Climate Conference (CoP21) by 195 countries.The rare coincidence of three such agreements is an opportunity of global significance for building coherence across these policy streams
The first international conference for the post2015 United Nations landmark agreements (Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, Sustainable Development Goals, and Paris Agreement on Climate Change) was held in January 2016 to discuss the role of science and technology in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
This article describes the evolution of the role of science and technology in the policy process building up to the Sendai Framework adoption that resulted in an unprecedented emphasis on science in the text agreed on by 187 United Nations member states in March 2015 and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in June 2015
Summary
The year 2015 was a historic year in global policy with the publication of three landmark UN agreements:. The need for a more integrative DRR process that incorporates bottom-up and top-down actions, local scientific and technical knowledge, and a vast array of stakeholders was clear (Gaillard and Mercer 2012) Programs such as the Integrated Risk Governance Project of the ICSU Future Earth program emerged to respond to the strong interest in improved risk governance systems expressed by UN member states in the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. UNISDR, with support from STAG, committed to establishing a Science and Technology Partnership that aims to meet the scientific objectives of the Sendai Framework This requires mobilizing relevant institutions, networks, and initiatives from all levels and all regions to promote and improve dialogue and cooperation among scientific and technological communities, other relevant stakeholders, and policymakers in order to facilitate a science-policy interface for effective decision making in disaster risk management. The UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 ( referred to as the S&T Conference) was convened in Geneva in January 2016, bringing together a diversity of scientists, practitioners, and policymakers in DRR
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