G20 developing climate disaster prevention tools

The G20 Disaster Risk Reduction group met in Rio de Janeiro this week, laying out priorities for the economic group to prevent climate disasters.

The priorities established by the group include combating inequality; reducing vulnerabilities; creating a global alert system and more resistant infrastructure; and finding strategies to finance these projects. One such option would be to tax the super-rich, the group said.

The group drafted an initial document on the issues, referred to as "0.0 version", to "formulate a ministerial message to be approved in November" when the full G20 meets in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This was the second time the group met this year. The goal was not to reach a consensus, but begin talks on the subject.

"I think the environment is very auspicious for us to reach a consensus for a ministerial declaration at the end of this working group," said Wolnei Wolff Barreiros, coordinator for the Disaster Risk Reduction group and secretary of civil defense and protection of Brazil's integration and regional development ministry.

UN agencies have also worked on early warning services for extreme weather events, such as the Systematic Observations Financing Facility started in 2022. The UN development programme and the UN office for disaster risk reduction are also working with the World Meteorological Organization to develop a new tracking system to record and analyze extreme weather, water and climate-related events and the loss and damage caused.

The G20 Disaster Risk Reduction group was first suggested by India last year, when the Asian country held the G20 presidency. Brazil has the chair this year.

Brazil's southern Rio Grande do Sul state faced massive floods in late April and early May. The weather event left over 180 dead and displaced around 600,000 people.

By Lucas Parolin