Subnational govt’s outline priorities to improve disaster risk reduction

Leaders and representatives of local and regional governments in Asia-Pacific attending the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) 2024 gather for a group photo during the Local and Regional Government Assembly, October 14, 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City.

Local and regional governments in Asia-Pacific outlined key actions to enhance evidence-based, inclusive, and innovative disaster and climate governance and financing during the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) 2024. 

Hosted by the Philippine Government in partnership with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the APMCDRR 2024 was held last October 14-18, 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City. 

During the Conference, leaders and representatives of local and regional governments in attendance gathered for the Local and Regional Government Assembly, which resulted in a Joint Statement of Local and Regional Governments to the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2024 

The statement highlighted the following key actions: 

  • Develop and secure data infrastructure at the local level to effectively assess risks and vulnerabilities from climate change and disaster impacts. 
  • Build capacity to adopt nature-based, sustainable, and tailor-made solutions to manage climate- and water-related disaster risks, particularly for vulnerable areas. 
  • Collaborate with national governments and the private sector to invest in resilient infrastructure, including blue-green infrastructure, while enhancing cooperation to scale up DRR and climate financing. 
  • Integrate gender-responsive planning, budgeting, and implementation in local disaster risk reduction and climate action.  

The statement also called upon national governments to: 

  • Ensure the accessibility and interoperability of risk, climate change, and disaster impact data systems across the different levels of government. 
  • Strengthen multi-level and multi-hazard risk governance by including local and regional governments and other stakeholders in national policymaking processes, and reduce barriers to community engagement. 
  • Provide financial assistance, technical support, and capacity development to empower local and regional governments in climate and disaster risk governance and sustainable resilience-building. 
  • Establish financing mechanisms that incentivize investments in resilient infrastructure including blue-green infrastructure, and promote innovative and accessible technologies and tools, and multi-hazard early warning systems. 
  • Facilitate access for local and regional governments to disaster risk and climate-related development cooperation and financing mechanisms. 

The statement was adopted as an outcome document of the Assembly submitted to the APMCDRR. Dakila Carlo Cua, Governor of Quirino Province, Philippines, delivered the statement in a plenary session of the APMCDRR 2024. 

Before the statement was drafted, Marco Toscano-Rivalta, Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, shared four considerations to the Assembly: 

  • Climate variability is localized;  
  • Recovery and readiness to recover requires strong compact between central and local government, and local government and local actors including private sector;  
  • Early warning system needs to be strengthened; and  
  • There is necessary transformation of the built environment. 

Convened by the Asia-Pacific Local Government Coordinating Body (APLG), the Local and Regional Government Assembly is where subnational governments take stock of the local and regional actions on the Sendai Framework and agree on the joint statement of local and regional governments to APMCDRR that will be presented in plenary of the Conference. 

A breakout session on “Building Climate Resilience in Asia Pacific: Local Leadership and Global Support for Bigger impacts” during the APMCDRR 2024 last October 17, 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City.

Enhance financing, inclusivity, and localization 

The APMCDRR provided an important opportunity to review risk reduction efforts, share innovative solutions, and make actionable commitments to accelerate disaster risk reduction by 2030 in the world’s most disaster-prone region. 

With the theme, “Surge to 2030: Enhancing ambition in Asia-Pacific to accelerate disaster risk reduction,” the Conference focused on three thematic pillars: “Practical solutions to enhance disaster risk reduction financing”; “Leaving no one behind: gender responsive and inclusive disaster risk governance”; and “Localization and urban and rural resilience.” 

It also focused on the following cross-cutting themes: Science, technology and knowledge; Multi-stakeholder coordination and collaboration; Convergence and coherence; and Full private sector engagement. 

Plenary discussions and breakout sessions revolved around the thematic pillars and themes. 

Moreover, the conference opened with a welcome message from Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who emphasized the importance of creating “a future where the need for recovery from disasters becomes less frequent.” 

The ICLEI Southeast Asia (SEA) Secretariat attended the conference, represented by Lendl Meniado, Project Officer, and Renee Ann Lagata, Project Assistant. 

The APMCDRR 2024 served as the first regional platform since the adoption of the Political Declaration of the Sendai Framework Midterm Review in May 2023. 

The conference is the main platform in Asia and the Pacific to monitor, review and enhance cooperation for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) at the regional level, gathering governments, intergovernmental, international, national and civil society organizations, the private sector, science, academia and stakeholder groups to accelerate progress in reducing disaster risk. 

Lendl Meniado, ICLEI Southeast Asia (SEA) Project Officer (left), and Renee Ann Lagata, ICLEI SEA Project Assistant (right), represented the Secretariat during the APMCDRR 2024 last October 14-17, 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City.

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