Governments face a socio-economic risk of up to $30 trillion from disasters over the next two decades if they don’t build up resilience, a new report released by the World Governments Summit (WGS) said.
The report titled ‘Transforming National Resilience Systems for Future Generations’ was developed in collaboration with Arthur D. Little (ADL).
Drawing on comprehensive research, data, and real-world cases, the report highlights leading government practices, identifies the investment that nations should channel into enhancing their resilience, and delivers actionable insights for government leaders as they consider their own specific resilience systems.
The report launch comes as natural and manmade disasters – from floods to terrorist acts – continue to follow an upward trend.
Over the course of the last century, instances of disaster or national crisis have increased 50-fold. In the last five decades, major disasters have become more frequent and severe, impacting nations significantly. Now, in the age of climate change and rapid technological developments, there is no sign of a slowdown.
“To limit the risks to societies and economies in times of crisis, the onus is now on government leaders to change their modus operandi and focus squarely on building national resilience that is fit for today’s world. With the call to action clear, developing robust national resilience systems requires a paradigm shift away from siloed approaches and towards a whole-of-economy and citizen-centric resilience lifecycle,” Mohamed Yousef AlSharhan, Managing Director of the World Government Summit Organisation, said.
Report co-author and Arthur D. Little Middle East partner Alex Buirski added: “Socio-economic resilience is the outcome of a well-structured national resilience system, enabled by holistic and sustained government investment programs.
“Leaders of today have a duty to inspire, develop, and sustain a culture of resilience within citizens, society, and the public, private, and third sectors for the benefit of future generations.”
Success factors
The report outlined 10 crucial success factors for national leaders:
- Coalition: Supra-national coalitions, national political alliances, and mutual-aid agreements.
- Leadership: Inspirational and committed leadership along with omni-channel messaging direct to all parts of a community.
- Coordination: A national coordination body for risk management, preparedness, standard setting, and resilience reporting.
- Infrastructure: Critical infrastructure and essential services are top priority.
- Reform: ADL estimates that operational expenditures could increase threefold for the first two years of the resilience transformation programs to review, reform, and institutionalise national arrangements.
- Civil defense: Civil defense agencies should be at par with defense, security, and intelligence agencies.
- Standards: Interoperability and the Internet of Things for risk detection.
- Integration: Integrated multi-agency, risk-based governance at all levels.
- Community: Targeted and customised community engagement and awareness building.
- Return on investment: Socio-economic return on investment can be derived from investing in leading edge programs and capabilities.
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