Aid
Building resilience to natural disasters: a framework for private sector engagement committed to improving the state of the world
Deepening industry engagement in disaster risk reduction
Authors:
; World Bank; United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
Publisher:
World Economic Forum, 2008
The unprecedented frequency and costs of natural disasters and the projected increase of their severity due to climate change are posing significant economic challenges and new risks for vulnerable populations. New approaches and investments aimed at building resilience to natural disasters are required by all actors to help stem future losses. This report is part of a series of multistakeholder projects aimed at catalysing action on key global challenges.
Based on consultations with corporations, governments, academia and civil society this report recommends a series of concrete actions that key industries can take, in collaboration with governments and civil society, to strengthen the global capacity to withstand disasters. The report serves as a preliminary roadmap for deepening industry engagement in disaster risk reduction and for catalysing innovative public-private partnerships for this purpose.
In order to achieve the integration of the private sector into existing platforms and activities the following recommendations are highlighted:
- governments should maintain their central role in strategic agenda setting, but reach out more systematically to the private sector
- companies should integrate better cost-benefit analyses for resiliency measures into their business strategies and communications
- businesses should channel input into national disaster platforms and strategies linked to a high-level government process or office
- financiers should incorporate considerations related to natural-disaster resilience in lending arrangements.
