Urban Disaster and Climate Risks: Solutions and Ways Forward

Disaster risk in cities is on the rise due to the intersection of two global megatrends: urbanization and climate change. The side event aims at providing a state-of-the-art overview and reflection on knowledge based solutions for improving urban resilience and reducing urban risks from natural and climatic hazards. Combining science, practice and policy-makers, the session will offer answers to three main questions of urban sustainability: - Which future trends in urban risk are to be expected, particularly in countries with rapid urbanization and high exposure to natural and climatic hazards? - Which opportunities do exist to harness the social and economic development potential of urbanization for the long-term mitigation of risk and the facilitation of sustainable adaptation? - How can, and should, long-term and proactive risk reduction in the city be guided by different adaptation paradigms of resistance, resilience and/or transformation? This integrated, solution driven side event proposed by UNESCO, UNU and WMO will: - Address needs, gaps, and a way forward to develop city-tailored guidelines for integrated knowledge tools to build resilient urban communities from natural and climatic hazards - Establish national, regional and international partnerships - Transfer knowledge via sharing experiences of good practices and innovation.