Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principal secretary PK Mishra on Monday said that climate finance must be an integral part of financing for disaster risk reduction.
“We need to pursue greater convergence between various streams of financing available for disaster risk reduction. Climate Finance has to be an integral part of financing for disaster risk reduction,” he said.
Mishra said this during the third meeting of G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group held in Chennai.
Cautioning against impacts of climate crisis, Mishra said that the disasters are no longer into the distant future and that “they are already here”.
“Mobilizing private finance for disaster risk reduction has been a challenge, but without it, we won’t be able to go very far in addressing all the disaster risk reduction needs,” he said. Mishra highlighted that cities in almost the entire northern hemisphere have been in the grip of severe heat waves.
“The forest fires in Canada and the haze that followed affected cities in many parts of North America…Here in India, we have seen major cyclonic activity on our east and west coasts. Delhi experienced its worst flood in 45 years! And we are not even half way through the monsoon season,” Mishra added.
“The impacts of climate change related disasters are no longer into the distant future. They are already here. They are enormous. They are interconnected. And they affect everyone across the planet,” he said.
The G20 working group will focus on the UN Secretary General’s “Early Warning For All” initiative as one of the five priorities.
“In the area of financing disaster risk reduction, it is important that we pursue structured mechanisms at all levels for financing all aspects of disaster risk reduction. Over the last few years, in India we have completely transformed the way disaster risk reduction is financed. We now have a predictable mechanism for financing not just disaster response but also disaster mitigation, preparedness and recovery. Can we have analogous arrangements at the global level as well?” he asked.
He asked the group to focus on what kind of enabling environment should the governments create to attract private finance into disaster risk reduction? “And how can G20 generate momentum around this area and ensure that private investment in disaster risk reduction is not only an expression of corporate social responsibility but part of the core business of firms”.
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