The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the 13th of which is “Climate action,”namely: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Under this major goal, there are five targets, the 13.1 of which is “Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.”

●Current Situation

About the World

Hope is the best of all things: everyone’s action in the world is the hope of carbon emission reduction!

On May 18, 2022, the World Meteorological Organization released the State of the Global Climate 2021, announcing that the average temperature of the world today is 1.11℃ higher than that before the industrial revolution, which clearly shows that we are in a gradually warming world. In this warming world, the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities into the atmosphere absorb more solar heat and provide more energy for the climate system, resulting in various serious extreme weather disasters, with high temperature heat waves and wildfires as the most obvious manifestations. The hotter air can hold more water vapor - about 7% more for every 1℃ rise - which means more intense rainstorms and greater floods. The ocean absorbs most of the heat on the earth, while the warm ocean contributes to the formation of stronger hurricanes and typhoons. The melting of polar glaciers and the expansion of high temperature sea water has pushed up the sea level, making the storm further impact inland.

In 2022 alone, climate disasters have swept the world, and various extreme weather events in succession have become the headlines of the world’s news. Record-breaking high temperatures, droughts and wildfires hit North America, Europe, India and Pakistan; and heavy rains and floods swept through Seoul of South Korea, Sydney of Australia, Bangladesh, South Africa and Brazil. Behind these extreme weather events is a living story of communities, families and individuals who have experienced the severe impact of extreme weather events. Many people believe that carbon emission reduction is the concern of the United Nations, governments of various countries, leaders of international organizations, and presidents of multinational companies. But in fact, carbon emission reduction is related to each of us, and we are the constituent of the world. If we do not act, there will be no hope for carbon reduction in the whole world. Everyone can do some simple things, and these can play a different role. Perhaps everyone in the world will finally realize that the cost of taking action now is much lower than that of not taking action.

Source: The Paper

About China

Capability of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief significantly improved

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to emergency management. Especially in 2018, in the process of deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions, the CPC Central Committee decided to establish the Ministry of Emergency Management and the national comprehensive fire and rescue team, carrying out systematic and overall reconstruction of China’s emergency management system, and promoting the historical achievements and changes in China’s emergency management cause. The Ministry of Emergency Management has strengthened the comprehensive management and whole-process management of emergency work, as well as the optimized management of forces and resources, and has basically formed the emergency management system with Chinese characteristics, featuring unified command, special and regular forces, sensitive response, and upper- lower linkage. Major accidents have continued to decline. China’s disaster prevention is more advanced, the foundation for disaster reduction is stronger, and the disaster relief mechanism is more sensitive.

Qiong Se, member of the CPC Committee of the Ministry of Emergency Management and director of the Fire and Rescue Bureau, said that all regions and departments have actively promoted the modernization of the fire safety governance system and governance capacity, and achieved a series of important results. Since the reform and restructuring, the functions of the national comprehensive fire and rescue team have been greatly expanded, from the social rescue focusing on rescuing people’s lives to the comprehensive emergency rescue of “all kinds of disasters and major emergencies.” Compared with 2012, work safety accidents and deaths in 2021 decreased by 56.8% and 45.9% respectively, and the total number of accidents decreased for 10consecutive years. From 2013 to 2021, the average number of natural disaster deaths and missing persons, the number of collapsed houses and the proportion of direct economic losses to GDP in the country decreased by 87.2%, 87.4% and 61.7% respectively compared with the average in 2000-2012.

Sources: People’s Daily

●Cases

About the World

The first Israeli city recognized as a resilience hub

As a city with 200,000 inhabitants and the second-largest industrial zone in the country, Holon is vulnerable to extreme weather events, having suffered from flooding in the past. Its appointment as a Resilience Hub is recognition of its efforts to address the challenges of urbanization, disaster risk reduction, climate change, and social and economic inclusion.Holon’s main priority for emergency management is to guarantee the functional continuity of key services and infrastructure, and to enable a fast recovery in the event of any disaster. The municipality has six administrative units, each taking different roles in managing emergencies. Each unit has well-established emergency plans and procedures, which are practiced regularly with the civilian population. Every school in the city conducts four emergency exercises per year under the municipality’s supervision.

To promote social and economic inclusion, Holon established neighborhood community centers that provide a space for people to connect. The centers support low income populations through fundraising activities and the distribution of food packages. The municipality also prioritizes urban renewal projects in underprivileged areas to improve living conditions and reduce disaster risk. 

Source: undrr.org

New York City’s flood risk management experience in adapting to climate change

New York is located in the northeast of the Atlantic coast of the United States, with a 520-mile coastline. The Hudson River, adjacent to New York City, provides shipping convenience. However, many factors, such as the rising sea level, intensifying storm surges, and increasing extreme heavy rainfall events, have resulted in increasing flood risks. According to monitoring and assessment, the sea level in New York has risen by one foot (about 30cm) in the past 100 years, and will increase at a rate of 10 inches (about 25cm) over 20 years. The vulnerable population, residential facilities and infrastructure in New York City will be further exposed to climate risks.

To cope with climate change and the natural disasters it brings, New York has formulated a resilient city plan to cope with climate change - to build a green, stronger and more resilient New York. Urban flood management has great potential, especially through the construction of green infrastructure, the expansion of urban green space, and the full play of the regulation and storage functions of natural ecosystems. Integrating green infrastructure into the urban integrated drainage system is a highlight of flood risk management in New York City.

Source: One Foundation

About China

Disaster risk survey strengthens disaster prevention and mitigation

There is no end to human’s understanding of the laws of nature. Disaster prevention and mitigation, and disaster relief are eternal topics for human survival and development. China is one of the countries with the most serious natural disasters in the world, with many kinds of disasters, wide distribution, high frequency and heavy losses. Therefore, strengthening the construction of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief system is both an urgent task and a long-term task. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to disaster prevention, mitigation and relief, made disaster prevention, mitigation and relief an important part of the modernization of the country’s governance system and capacity, coordinated the construction of major projects and institutional reform, and promoted the continuous improvement of disaster risk management capacity.

China innovates and develops the concept of emergency management in the new era, adheres to the focus on prevention and the combination of disaster prevention and relief, comprehensively improves the comprehensive disaster prevention capability, and provides a solid guarantee for the safety of people’s lives and property. In order to comprehensively grasp the situation of natural disaster risks and hidden dangers in China and improve the comprehensive prevention ability of the whole society against natural disasters, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have deployed to carry out the first national comprehensive survey of natural disaster risks. This is an important basic work to improve China’s ability to prevent and control natural disasters, and a major survey of national conditions and strength.

Source: accws.org.cn, China Construction News

Shenzhen improves emergency management and disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities to make the city more resilient

Shenzhen is located in the southern coast of China, and natural disasters such as typhoons and rainstorms occur frequently, which makes more people pay attention to the city’s emergency safety and resilience. On May 4, 2022, Shenzhen officially issued the Work Plan for the Safety Construction of Shenzhen Urban Lifeline Projects. According to the plan, Shenzhen will focus on the three functions of “monitoring, early warning, and quick disposal”, including five sections - the construction of basic platforms for lifeline projects, the construction of monitoring and early warning capacity for lifeline projects, the construction of environmental risk perception capacity around lifeline projects, the construction of communication protection capacity for lifeline projects, and the construction of disaster prevention and resilience capacity for lifeline projects - covering all aspects of building a high-quality “resilient city.”

At the same time, emergency management capability is an important indicator reflecting the level of modern urban governance and safety coefficient, while public emergency response capability and social organization mobilization capability are important aspects of emergency management capability. At the scene of an accident, someone can stand up, “dares to save and knows to how to save” which shows the level of civilization and safety resilience of a city. Recently, the Municipal Emergency Management Bureau held the establishment and flag awarding ceremony of the “first responder” team, marking the official launch and operation of the “first responder” mechanism in Shenzhen.

Source: sztv.com.cn

●Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Initiated by the United Nations

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.