for the Review of IAP members Apr.

15, 2009

need to be changed

need to be changed

4th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

Incheon, Republic of Korea October 25~28, 2010

Disaster Risk Reduction for Climate Change Adaptation

- Convergence and Technology -

Organized by:
National Emergency Management Agency Government of Republic of Korea With the support of Incheon Metropolitan City, UNISDR, and Conference Partners

for the Review of IAP members Apr. 15, 2009

Background
The Asian Ministerial Conferences on Disaster Risk Reduction, organized every two years since 2005 at Asian Governments initiative, represent unique opportunities for Ministers in charge of disaster risk management from the Asia and Pacific region to reaffirm their commitment to Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) implementation and to exchange valuable experiences on successful practices and innovative approaches in implementing HFAs five priorities for action at the national and local levels. The First Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, organized by the Government of China (Beijing, September 2005), adopted the Beijing Action for Disaster Risk Reduction to promote the newly-adopted HFA and to seek Asian Governments' commitment and actions to implement disaster risk reduction, including through the strengthening of existing key regional cooperation mechanisms. The Second Conference (New Delhi, India, November 2007) reaffirmed Governments commitment to HFA and agreed to expand further the biennial Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction as the Regional Platform with participation of the National Governments, regional and sub-regional organizations, UN Agencies, and other stakeholders including the civil society, scientific and technical organizations, the private sector and the media. Adopting the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, the Third Ministerial Conference was successfully convened by the Government of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, December 2008) and the overarching theme of the Conference was Multi-stakeholder Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asia and Pacific region, with a particular focus on Public Private Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction and community-based disaster risk reduction activities. During the 3rd Conference several key issues were raised such as the action taken by the national governments and other stakeholders for the implementation of HFA as a follow up to the Beijing Action for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia and Delhi Declaration, and on issues such as the need to increase national investments on disaster

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risk reduction and in the forging of new innovative partnerships with the private sector on DRR. Despite the impressive achievements by countries in the region on DRR, 2008 the disaster impacts are still on the rise. The trend has been increasing both in terms of scale and frequency of the hazards, which may have been further exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. As the UN Secretary General, Mr. ban Ki Moon noted, everyday brings new evidence that climate change is the defining issue of our times. At present the world is grappling at ways by which to reduce the emission of green house gases. However, scientists forecast that, even though we can successfully reduce the future gas emissions, the level of current carbon dioxide in our atmosphere can already affect our society harshly, causing more frequent and severe disasters. It is known that, during the last century, the world temperature has been increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius. Asia is not free from this kind of temperature rise. Asia will suffer from increased temperature which is higher than that of world average. Sea-surface temperature also will be increased in our region. Asia and the Pacific have experienced higher sea-surface temperature increase and sea-level rise. In terms of damages, the world damages from natural disasters are exponentially increasing. The real problem is that the damage is worst in our region, Asia and the Pacific. Total number of people killed in our region is the highest in the world and the number of people killed per million inhabitants is also the highest in our region during the last part of the twentieth century. Many environmental and meteorological experts are focusing on mitigation measures such as reducing carbon emission effectively. Mitigation measures are important and necessary actions for the future generation. But, adaptation is more important since climate change has been already begun and we are already facing real impacts of this changing change. It is the time for enhanced advocacy and to start the initiatives for

for the Review of IAP members Apr. 15, 2009

climate change and disaster risk reduction. With mandatory commitments for carbon reduction, negative impacts of increased carbon emission need to be more emphasized and tackled. We thus have to act now to include disaster risk reduction as a main agenda for climate change countermeasures. It is required, therefore, to establish a practical and problem-solving cooperation system against extreme disasters due to climate change. It is required to execute technical and tangible solutions using available cutting-edge technologies and policies for disaster risk reduction in the region. As indicated by UK Department for International Development in 2008, there has been limited integration of DRR and climate change adaptation despite the two agendas sharing similar goals and conceptual overlaps. To congregate these two important agendas, UNFCCC is also emphasizing the potential synergy between climate change adaptation and DRR. The overarching theme of the conference is Disaster Risk Reduction for Climate Change Adaptation, with a particular focus on 1)the convergence of DRR and climate change adaptation and 2)available information technology and green technology.

Objectives
The objectives of the 4th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction will be: a) To review the action taken by the national governments and other stakeholders for the implementation of HFA as a follow up to the Beijing Action for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia, the Delhi Declaration, and the Kuala Lumpur Declaration b) To establish a practical and problem-solving cooperation system against extreme disasters due to climate change.

for the Review of IAP members Apr. 15, 2009

c) To execute technical and tangible solutions using available cutting-edge technologies and policies for disaster risk reduction in the region. d) To find out ways to share climate information and the technical development in the field of disaster management.

Expected Outcomes
Conference declaration of commitment with action plan Scientific and political recommendations for tangible application Regional Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction for Climate Change Adaptation

Structure and Selected Themes of the Event

The conference is structured to include:

Pre-conference events: Interested partners or Governments are welcome to organize specific discussions of a sub-regional nature to forge a common position from the sub-region that will feed into the Ministerial Conference. The duration of pre-conference events varies according to the Partners demands.

Open Public Forum: Representatives from Governments, the media, private sector, NGOs, local communities, local authorities, technical and specialized institutions, UN Agencies are invited to exhibit their achievements and initiatives in disaster risk reduction, along the lines of the Conference theme. Exhibition booths will be made available to exhibitors. Media training activities and press related events shall also be organized over the three days. For more information on the booths, please contact the Conference Secretariat.

Side Events: Specific thematic discussions are encouraged during the Ministerial Conference to highlight major themes that may be left out from the five themes retained for the Ministerial Conference. They are expected to bring valuable recommendations / reports to the Ministerial Declaration.
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Inter-governmental Segment comprising of: a) Technical Sessions b) High-Level Ministerial Roundtable (HLRT)

After finally formulated topics are circulated to the participating countries, participating countries can be classified based on their interests into groups with specific topics in advance. Ten or so countries will be grouped together for practical discussions. During round-table meetings and technical sessions, each country will present what they think about the specified topic, and technical experts will discuss about the same topics, yielding applicable approaches to the ministers. During plenary session, rapporteurs will present each session's or topic's outcomes. (a) The Technical Sessions (TS) will be held with several technical experts and disaster risk reduction practitioners to address the key technical challenges faced on the selected topic for discussion. They will be composed of a few experts, a Chairperson, who are expected to come up with key recommendations for action. The latter will be conveyed by the Chairperson and Rapporteur to the High-Level Round Table on the same subject for Ministers consideration. (b) The High-Level Round Tables (HLRTs) will be composed of several Ministers in charge of Disaster Management from selected countries from the Asia pacific region who expressed interest in the HLRTs subject. The Chairperson of the related Technical Session will act as the HLRTs moderator and bring to the table the key concerns and recommendations raised at technical sessions, for Ministers consideration and discussions. HLRTs are expected to come up with policy recommendations that will be reflected as part of the Ministerial Declaration.

Tentative Program
Date Program

Oct. 25 All Day Pre-Committee Oct. 26 Morning Opening, Plenary, AMCDRR Review, HFA Review

for the Review of IAP members Apr. 15, 2009

AfternoonThematic Segment (HLRT & Technical Sessions) Evening Welcome Dinner Oct. 27 All Day Thematic Segment (HLRT & Technical Sessions) * Declaration Drafting and Photo Session Oct. 28 Morning Plenary (Five-Topic Presentations by Rapporteurs), Closing, Press Conference AfternoonCultural Visit Oct. 25~28 Public Forum (Exhibition, Seminars, Side Events)

Proposed Topics for the Technical Sessions and Related High Level Round Tables
Session 1 - Establishment of Nature-friendly Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Practice and the Improvement of Current Design Criteria for Disaster Prevention Session 2 Development of Risk Analysis System and the Establishment of Early Warning & Evacuation Systems using Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Session 3 - Strengthening Recovery Systems for the Prevention and Mitigation of Recurring Disaster Session 4 Reducing Urban Risks due to Natural and Technological Hazards Session 5 - Enhancement of Regional Sharing and Cooperation System on Disaster Risk Reduction

Expected Participation
The Conference is expected to be attended by Ministers in charge of Disaster Risk Reduction/Disaster Management and other high-level Government representatives from Asia and the Pacific Island Countries throughout the Ministerial Conference, including at High-Level Roundtable Discussions.

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Other key partners include senior Government representatives engaged in disaster risk reduction in their respective country, together with disaster risk reduction experts and practitioners, scientists, representatives from the civil society, NGOs, academic institutions, UN Agencies and regional organizations, the donor community and the media.

Conference Language
Working language of the conference will be English.

Conference Secretariat
For further information, please contact: Mr. Yong-Kyun Kim Leader, The 4th AMCDRR & UN ISDR Northeast Asia Office Task Force, NEMA, #1805 Central Government Complex, 55 Sejongro, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 110-760, Republic of Korea Tel: +82-2-2100-8921, Fax: +82-2-2100-8931, E-mail: 007falcon@nema.go.kr Url: http://www.amcdrr.....kr Operating Hours: Monday-Friday, 10.00 am 5.00 pm (UTC/GMT +9 hrs)