Why did we undertake this study?
There is global consensus that disaster risk reduction requires changes to the governance systems surrounding disaster risk, sustainable human development, and climate risk management. International agreements signed in 2015 provide a framework to facilitating and supporting these necessary changes in public policy and administration. How to maximise the value of these agreements in creating a transformative agenda requires an investigation into its current use by governments.
How was it done?
Surveys and interviews with practitioners in local, provincial or state, and federal governments in Canada and Australia were conducted between 2019 and 2020. Questions targeted how international agreements have changed and challenged current perceptions, arrangements, and practices related to disaster risk reduction.
What did we find?
Overall, international agreements are being underutilised:
- There is a dominant view in Canada and Australia that international agreements reflect global principles for disaster risk reduction, sustainable human development, and climate risk management.
- The agreements themselves do not necessarily account for national or local contexts given their global nature.
- While there is an opportunity to use these types of agreements more meaningfully in the future, significant behavioural and institutional changes are needed at all government levels to contextualise and integrate the agreements into policy and practice.
Implications
Transforming disaster risk management requires that the connections between international agreements and public policies are fully realised by those negotiating the agreements and those responsible for its implementation. This must involve greater recognition by all governments that the principles espoused in these agreements have value to national and local disaster risk reduction. Recommended actions include: expanding stakeholder engagement processes in the lead up to future agreements; being more proactive in linking existing and future policies and programs with the principles and requirements set out in this international agenda; and more effectively communicating the value of these international agreements to local and regional governments.
Learn more
The full paper is available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.102999
Citation: Raikes, J., Smith, T.F., Baldwin, C., & Henstra, D. (2022). The influence of international agreements on disaster risk reduction. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 76: 102999.
You can download a pdf version of this summary.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects Funding Scheme (Project FT180100652). This work contributes to Future Earth Coasts, a Global Research Project of Future Earth. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government, the Australian Research Council or Future Earth Coasts. We would like to thank the participants for their time and contributions, as well as Professor RW (Bill) Carter (University of the Sunshine Coast), Cathy Buck (Sunshine Coast Council), and Alison Rifai (Queensland’s Inspector General’s Office for Emergency Management.