Loretta Girardet: Resilient society must be ready for environmental, technological hazards

A resilient society must be prepared for climate, geophysical, environmental and technological hazards.

Report informs that Loretta Girardet, representative of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, said this at the session "Strengthening urban earthquake preparedness: UN solutions for safer and more resilient cities" held as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13).

She said the consequences of the earthquake in Haiti were more severe due to weak infrastructure, unplanned urbanization, poverty, inadequate building standards and insufficient investment in resilience.

"The earthquake occurred in a country with a very high level of vulnerability, and of course, the poorest communities suffered the most. It took them many years to recover from this disaster. This remains a relevant lesson today. At a time when we are facing the accelerating impacts of climate change, we firmly believe that geophysical hazards - earthquakes, volcanoes and other risks - must not be forgotten. The number and intensity of climate-related disasters are increasing, but seismic risks remain a devastating threat to cities and national economies, especially in rapidly urbanizing regions. Therefore, we have no right to create an artificial hierarchy among risks. A truly resilient society must be prepared for climate, geophysical, environmental and technological hazards," she said.