Source: United Nations secretary general
H.E. Mr. Ignazio Cassis, Foreign Minister of Switzerland and Member of the Swiss Federal Council; Excellencies; Distinguished Delegates; Ladies and Gentlemen,
This 2025 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction comes at a critical point in time.
Let me express my sincere appreciation to the Government and people of Switzerland for welcoming us at this crucial juncture on the road to 2030, and to co-chairs Patricia Danzi and Kamal Kishore and their dedicated teams for their leadership in steering the 8th Global Platform forward.
We gather here with a profound sense of urgency, but also among geopolitical tensions, and an unwavering responsibility.
Just last week, I stood among global leaders at the first High-Level International Conference for Glaciers’ Preservation in Dushanbe, witnessing first-hand the impact of climate change on Tajikistan’s Glacier’s in the Pamir mountain range. As a global community, the Conference issued an urgent call for action to safeguard these fragile ecosystems, reduce the impact of climate change on water-related ecosystems and invest in disaster prevention.
Days later, one of the biggest Alpine disasters struck just 130 kilometres from here in Blatten. A glacier collapse could have cost countless lives, but thanks to the early warning systems, people and their livestock were evacuated in time.
Still, the devastation is profound. I extend my deepest sympathies to the people of Blatten, who now face a difficult task of recovering what was lost.
This disaster is a stark reminder: early warnings save lives, but they alone cannot save glaciers from disappearing. Communities and ecosystems depend on these ice reserves, and the consequences of their loss are irreversible.
If global warming exceeds 1.5°C, the impacts will cascade across the planet. The UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All Initiative is helping countries prepare for climate-related shocks while strengthening climate resilience. But we must scale up this rapidly, ensuring that no one is left behind.
Excellencies,
When we came together in 2015 to adopt the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we did more than set ambitious goals, we made a solemn promise to build a world that is safer, more equitable, and more resilient.
Yet, that promise stands at a crossroads.
Although we have made progress since Paris in bringing down projected temperature increases, we are now dangerously close to the 1.5 degrees limit, and every new scientific report tells us that another climate indicator is flashing red.
Just last week, WMO projected that we will likely see temperatures rise above 1.5 degrees not just for a single year but over the next five years.
Disasters are not just increasing in scale and cost—they are striking with growing intensity and unpredictability, leaving no country or region untouched.
Every delay in action carries a devastating human and economic toll.
The 2025 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction highlights direct losses from disasters at $202 billion annually, but when cascading and ecosystem costs are considered, total losses exceed 2.3 trillion US dollars annually.
Disasters have devastating effects on the world’s most vulnerable countries – LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS –derailing economies, deepening inequity, and pushing them further off the path of sustainable development.
Middle Income Countries also face mounting setbacks, as disasters divert critical resources away from long-term growth.
Even developed countries are not immune. Record-breaking disasters are making entire regions uninsurable, exposing new vulnerabilities.
Meanwhile, the Sustainable Development Goals are dangerously off track, with an annual financing gap of over 4 trillion dollars.
Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,
Protecting development gains from disaster impacts is more urgent than ever.
Progress is possible and we have seen it.
Over the past decade, disaster mortality rates have declined, early warning systems have expanded, and two-thirds of countries that are part of the Sendai Framework now have disaster risk strategies in place.
But this is not enough. We must go further and faster to deliver on Early Warning Systems for All by 2027.
We must continue to build momentum powered by innovation, determination, and multi-networked leadership.
Your actions demonstrate that “resilience does pay” when governments, local actors, the private sector, youth and all of society come together to take action.
From Artificial Intelligence, predictive analytics and machine learning models, new tools together with traditional knowledge and on the ground practitioners are transforming how we predict, prevent, and mitigate disasters.
They must be expanded for proactive, data-driven prevention – saving lives while protecting livelihoods and assets.
Immediate, real-time monitoring, advanced satellite imagery and geographic information systems can complement preparedness strategies, coordination, and our 2030 Agenda’s promise of leaving no one behind.
These transformative actions must be scaled to ensure resilience is not an after-thought, but the foundation for our long-term prosperity.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I see three key actions to accelerate the implementation of the Sendai Framework in the remaining five years.
First, we must prioritize risk-informed development across all sectors and levels. This means putting prevention and resilience at the centre of every decision, investment, and policy that we make.
Every dollar invested in infrastructure, energy, cities, agriculture… must strengthen resilience, not exacerbate future risk.
At the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, we have a chance to reform global development finance and address the debt crisis, enabling us to have more fiscal space to avert these crises.
Second, we must urgently scale up public and private investments in resilience. All nations must dedicate a larger portion of public budgets to disaster risk reduction and establish national financing frameworks that align economic development plans with risk reduction and climate adaptation needs.
We must acknowledge resilience as a long-term economic necessity – and the best return on investment.
Instruments like catastrophe bonds, risk pools, and climate-resilient insurance can ensure faster recovery while reducing economic strain on vulnerable communities.
I encourage you to work with the private sector to mobilize new ways of funding resilience and integrating it into long-term business practices.
Third, we must strengthen our solidarity and cooperation. The risks we face are interconnected — across geographies, political boundaries and development sectors.
By September, nations will submit new climate plans – or nationally determined contributions. Strong, ambitious strategies to cut emissions and fortify resilience will shape our future and drastically reduce the risk of climate-related disasters.
Our responses must also be based on behavioural science and predictive forecasting. We must focus particularly on those who are most vulnerable and those already living on the frontlines of crisis.
The UN Secretariat is committed to supporting you seizing every global opportunity to drive change towards resilience, breaking the vicious cycle of debt, uninsurability and crises.
This Platform, I believe must elevate disaster risk reduction across the UN system – from the UN Ocean Conference, to the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, to COP30, to the World Summit on Social Development, and beyond.
Excellencies, Friends,
This is not business as usual.
The cost of inaction is already unbearable for many – and the choices we make now will shape the lives of generations to come.
Disaster risk reduction is not an option – it must be at the heart of our efforts to secure a safer, more sustainable, and more just world.
So let us rise to that moment — with resolve, with investment, and with the partnerships we need to deliver real results in the lives of people while protecting our planet.
Thank you.
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MIL OSI United Nations News –
