This event will reflect on the interface of mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk reduction after extreme flood events to take stock on how to build back not just better but different. It builds on the series of insurance events regularly hosted at the Spanish pavilion.
Rationale: Most people in the world live in cities, which have a high overall ecological footprint. Cities are also increasingly under pressure to decarbonise, while at the same time being at the sharp end of climate change impacts. Based on the idea of turning risks into opportunities, rapid onset disasters like floods, will become increasingly extreme in terms of intensity, frequency and scale, aggravated by a warming world. Therefore as disasters become more frequent and more intense due to climate change, reconstruction can in fact be transformative, based on the idea of build back better to adapt and transform urban spacesâ as an opportunity to redesign urban spaces quickly and deeply.
In this event we will focus on cities that have recently or in the recent past experienced floods, to reflect on the lessons learnt, what changed, what did not change and what we can take forward in terms of policy design for building back differently taking the window of opportunity post disaster to speed up the transformation of urban spaces and their decarbonisation with a focus on increasing social, economic and environmental well being. We wil give a special focus to the role of insurance and innovative insurance products and to community led initiatives for just resilience.
The IPCC is currently preparing its next report on Cities and Climate Change, this event will bring first-hand knowledge and experience from cities bearing the brunt of these changes and giving them a space and voice on how to build on these disasters to learn from them to make urban spaces more resilient, better prepared, and decarbonised.
Objectives
- To provide a space for cities and communities to exchange experiences on building back better.
- To provide insights on potential forensic analysis based on data on economic and non-economic damages.
- To reflect on how to truly integrate the disaster risk reduction cycle with adaptation urban planning.
- To reflect on innovative insurance products and services to build resilience.
- To have first hand testimonies from those at the forefront of these extreme events on what was learnt and what was not learnt.
Moderator
Elena Lopez Gunn. Founder and Director ICATALIST. Member European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change. Senior Researcher Royal Elcano Institute.
Speakers
- Animesh Kumar. Head of Office / UNDRR Bonn, Alemania.
- Nadejda Komendantova. Leader of the Cooperation and Transformative Governance Research Group / IIASA, Austria.
- Carmen Marqués. EU Climate Pact Ambassador. (TBC)
- Annalisa Corrado. Member of the European Parliament / Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (TBC)
- Caterina Sarafatti. Managing director / C40 Group