“Informed Financing for a Riskier Future: Building Resilience in the Age of Extremes”
Opening Remarks

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to the United Nations Office
for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Capital Development Fund,
and the Governments of Japan, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom
for organizing today’s important side event. Your commitment to advancing
risk-informed approaches and supporting countries most in need is both
timely and much needed.

We gather here at a time when the risks confronting our societies are
becoming more complex, more frequent, and more costly. The converging
effects of the climate crisis, exogenous shocks, and cascading systemic
risks are having disproportionate impacts on the world’s most vulnerable.

For Small Island Developing States (SIDS), this reality is especially stark.
Our communities are characterized not only by geographical isolation, but
also by limited fiscal space and extreme exposure to external shocks. In
SIDS, a single disaster can reverse years of hard-earned development
progress. In fact, on average, SIDS lose 2.1 percent of our GDP annually
from disaster shocks, destabilizing our economies, disrupting food systems,
damaging critical infrastructure and threatening livelihoods.

For example, cyclone Pam in 2015 caused losses amounting to
approximately 64 percent of Vanuatu’s GDP. In extreme cases, Hurricane
Maria devastated Dominica in 2017, with damages totaling an astounding
226 percent of GDP. Between 2010 to 2019, SIDS collectively suffered
more than US$94 billion dollars in losses from weather, climate, and
disasters.

For SIDS, therefore, disaster risk reduction and resilience-building cannot
be viewed in isolation from the broader discourse on financing for
development. Our pathway to resilient prosperity must include well-targeted
investments that address the root causes of vulnerability and build
resilience at the scale and urgency and required.

SIDS have not stood still in our pursuit of securing a more resilient future.
Several SIDS have begun to adapt Integrated National Financing
Frameworks (INFFs) to reflect the realities of climate impacts and disaster
exposures, ensuring that risk is not afterthoughts, but rather integrated into
the way budgets are constructed, policies are implemented, and
investments are directed.

Yet, our efforts need to be supported at scale. Unfortunately, the current
global financing landscape is not keeping pace with the needs of our
countries, who sit on the frontlines. Most disaster funding continues to be
allocated towards response and recovery, rather than risk reduction or
prevention.

At the same time, SIDS are often forced to reallocate limited development
resources to fund recovery and reconstruction efforts through high-cost
borrowing. These conditions entrench us in a cycle of rebuilding, instead of
enabling us to move forward.

Compounding this challenge is the fact that many SIDS are excluded from
critical financing instruments because of their income status, an approach
that fails to capture our structural vulnerability and actual exposure to risk.

It is therefore imperative that we scale up investment in climate and
disaster resilience. This is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Investment in
resilience safeguards lives and livelihoods, protects development gains and
reduces long-term economic and social costs.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

The truth is clear: resilience cannot be built in moments of crisis. If we are
serious about risk-informed development and resilience, we must back our
words with adequate and accessible financing that truly aligns with the real
and present risks we face.

Let’s today’s discussion serves as a catalyst to rethink how we govern and
structure finance, ensuring it is risk informed. Let it also reiterate our
commitment in the Compromiso de Sevilla, to scale up investment in
disaster risk reduction and disaster risk financing to safeguard development
gains from disasters.

I look forward to hearing insights of our distinguished panelists and
encourage you to engage actively in the interactive discussion.

Thank you all for your attention and for your continued partnership in
building a more resilient future for all.