Objective
The negative consequences of natural hazards are on the rise. Manmade factors such as population growth, poverty, urbanization, changes in land use, globalization and climate change are aggravating these consequences. The losses in human lives and in properties and other economic resources are increasing both in developed and developing countries. The progress in science & technology and economic development are not necessarily leading to substantial reduction of disaster risk. We have made progress in understanding hazards and risks both in natural and social sciences. However the fruits of these sciences seems to be underutilized, and hence the losses are increasing. Why is it that we cannot fully exploit the advanced science and technology to solve this critical issue? The science and technology community has not found the answer yet.
The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (3rdWCDRR) will be held in Sendai, Japan in March 2015, and the successor arrangement of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA2) which will serve as the global guiding principle for the following years is expected to be adopted on this occasion. In addition, the negotiations on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be conducted in autumn 2015. Taking this opportunity, it is critically important to discuss integrated strategies for DRR based on science and technology to be embodied in HFA2 and to identify effective methods for its implementation. It is also indispensable to clarify the role of science and technology for DRR in sustainable development and include DRR strategic goals in the expected SDGs. Japan, due to geographical and geological conditions, has been tormented by natural disasters in the course of her history, and most recently hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) in 2011. However her people has overcome these difficulties and based on the lessons of GEJE, the country is in the process of strengthening the societal resilience and re-establishing her land management and social infrastructure. The Japanese scientific community, in cooperation with Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) is ready to share the lessons learnt and to illustrate a roadmap and introduce concrete examples towards integrating disaster risk reduction and sustainable development.
IRDR, which has been co-initiated by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), is a scientific challenge on natural and human-induced environmental hazard aiming at identifying better solutions for disaster prevention & mitigation and disaster preparedness. In IRDR, data and information are systematized and integrated regardless of the hazard type and beyond the academic confines, and shared across different stakeholders. Knowledge, experiences, and methods are exchanged to pursue an establishment of a methodology for a disaster risk reduction through an in-depth discussion. This is considered to be an essential step to build a resilient society and enable us to follow a sustainable development path.
Therefore, we would like to invite world leaders and top scientists to our Tokyo meeting prior to the 3rdWCDRR to discuss and formulate how the science and technology could help in disaster risk reduction and hence fostering sustainable development. The discussions will be based on the following three viewpoints.
First of all, it is highly likely that the global loss by natural disasters to increase in the future, with the economic loss predicted to rise to US$ 20 billion per year by 2030. Considering that it is vital for the sustainable development to take early action in recognition of disaster risks and build secure, healthy, wealthy and resilient nations and communities, we seek the possibilities to collaborate with the “Future Earth” in the field of earth environmental sciences, and with the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), and consolidate cooperatively a concept to contribute to the SDGs goal-setting for disaster reduction.
Secondly, to reduce disaster risks, it is necessary to implement disaster preventive measures based on scientific findings at regional, national, local, community levels and at residential neighborhoods. However real practices at any of these levels are below our expectations. We will demonstrate several tested “best practices” of disaster reduction that are based on scientific findings and simultaneously organize discussions with participants from all relevant stakeholder groups (trans-disciplinary study approach).
Thirdly, we have learned from the recovery processes after the GEJE that it is essential to take a comprehensive multi-hazards approach in order to implement effective and efficient disaster preventive measures in our society. We would like to identify better ways of scientific collaboration for avoiding hazards being converted to disaster risks, and for upgrading disaster risk awareness to decision-making & implementation process. We would like to propose concrete initiatives to support such processes and discuss our directions for the scientific community in this regard. We will also discuss common indicators to measure our progress based on science and to drive HFA2 forward.
Bearing these viewpoints in mind, we will make proposals, as a product of the conference, for establishing close coordination between sustainable development and disaster risk reduction at all aspects of policy-making, planning and programming of infrastructure and social systems, human resources mobilization, and for creation of structures and mechanisms to implement disaster risk reduction at all levels of society, and for incubating innovative science and technology that would guide us in all phases of disaster management cycle.