WORKING SESSION
Business and Private Sector: Investing in Resilient Infrastructure
Brief & Concept Note
Brief
1. Why is this topic important ?
The prominent role of the private sector in disaster risk management is one most businesses
only recently started to appreciate. Businesses are important and influential components in
the communities where they operate, and their collective ability to prepare, respond, and
recover from disasters can bring dramatic shifts in private, public and social communities
disaster resilience. The private sector needs to protect its own investments, and at the same
time, protect and continue provision of services to the communities.
Firstly, natural hazard can damage fundamental business components such as factory,
information infrastructure and supply chain, which have immediate impacts on a global
economy. Damage to a private sector in one area has ripple effects to both private and public
sectors in other areas that have no direct impact of natural hazard. Examples of the ripple
effects of disasters from Japan and Thailand to a global economy in recent years need to be
remembered as the valuable lesson. The session will focus on the importance of preparedness
of the private sector.
Secondly, as a service provider private sector actors have an important role to play in
understanding and reducing risks The private sector can act as providers of advanced
technologies for disaster risk reduction. Incorporation of such technologies in public and
private investment can promoted application of more effective and efficient approaches to
address disasters. It is important to take a holistic approach to build resilience to natural
hazard. However, it is rare for private sector to gather, regardless of industry and expertise
they offer, in an effort to offer holistic solutions, and UNISDR can play a role of catalyst to
facilitate it. The session will focus on the importance of taking a holistic approach through the
themes of preparedness for disasters and understanding, reducing their risks (instead of
focusing on a single product or company).
To help countries understand their exposure to natural hazards, private sector actors have
developed tools and experiences that governments and their development partners can draw
from to improve how we think about and act on risk. In reducing those risks once they are
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identified, private finance is an increasingly important factor in how infrastructure projects
are realized; the role of public-private partnerships in achieving resilience at scale is therefore
important to understand in any national DRR strategy. Finally, private sector and public
private partnerships play a critical role in protecting the livelihoods of vulnerable households,
as providers of employment to community members. Livelihoods depend on business
continuity.
2. What gaps need to be filled?
Businesses can reduce their vulnerability to the impacts of unforeseen events, including major
emergencies and disasters, by conducting business continuity planning (BCP) and business
continuity management (BCM). Having said that, it is not so common for senior management
of a private sector company to prepare for natural hazards as part of their business activities.
Thus encouraging senior management to do BCM can help them make effective executive
decisions.
In addition there is the lack of a common process to connect experiences, know-how,
technologies of private sector with governments and communities. That process, and the
infrastructure to do so, will help improve disaster risk reduction capacity of all stakeholders in
the public and private sector. The most important aspect, yet often forgotten, is the
importance of understanding needs of each community, and to offer holistic solutions to
assist each community. We do not want a situation where each business offers ad hoc
solutions which may be contradictory to each other without having a proper grand design.
This session will also explore the role local and national governments may play in facilitating,
and pulling together, the variety of actions by the private sector to bring in resilience in their
investment decisions, so they continue to play their role within the communities.
3. What (new) commitments are expected to be achieved?
The roles of private sector are clearly understood by all key stakeholders. Potential partnerships
to be developed in investing in resilient infrastructure.
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Concept Note
Schedule
Monday 16 March 2015, 10:00-11:30
Room and Venue
Main Hall, Sendai International Conference Centre
Organizing Team
UNISDR, World Bank, IRP partners, MLIT Japan and JBP.
UNISDR Focal Points
Sanjaya Bhatia (bhatia@un.org); Ana Cristina Thorlund (thorlund@un.org)
Background and
Rationale
The Working Session will be organized as a panel discussion of 90 minutes, with a
brief 10 minute presentation on the importance of disaster resilience of the
private sector in reducing disaster risks.
This will be followed by a panel discussion focused on the following questions:
1.
What role may the private sector have in reducing disaster risks?
2.
How well is the private sector engaged in the understanding of and the
importance of business continuity, both for commercial interests as well
as a national imperative?
3.
How can enhanced disaster resilience of the private and public sectors
and of infrastructure be better implemented in the post 2015
framework?
Session Objectives
This session will explore the role that private sector entities and the business
community as a whole play in facilitating disaster resilience. The panelists will
contemplate the wide range of capabilities the private sector has to offer, as well
as the responsibility of businesses to do so. The discussion will consider what is
needed to initiate, implement, and sustain private sector engagement in disaster
risk reduction, what investments and initiatives the private sector has to offer,
and what gaps and barriers stand in the way of greater levels of private-sector
engagement.
This session is expected to outline different strategies that might foster and
enhance public-private participation in disaster risk reduction, and determine
ways to formalize those strategies in the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction.
Discussion agenda and
structure
1. Introduction and welcoming remarks (10mns)
2. Panel discussion based on key themes:
- Understanding risk
- Preparedness of the private sector
- Risk Reduction efforts
- Responsiveness of the private sector
- Holistic Approach of the private sector
3. Interactive guided discussion (20mns)
4. Wrap up and conclusion by the moderator (10 minutes)
Expected outcomes
• An understanding and reinforcement of the critical role the private sector
plays in the reduction and creation of risks.
 A clear way forward for the private sector involvement to be more proactive
in its engagement in risk reduction in the post-2015 framework for disaster
risk reduction.
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Commitment / special
announcement in
support of a post-2015
framework for DRR
Private sector is fully committed to ensure reduction of disaster risks in its
investments as part of the implementation of the post-2015 framework for
disaster risk reduction through the promotion of business continuity planning,
risk reduction, improved standards and risk analysis of investments, and through
public private partnerships.
Expected number of
participants
200-400
Background documents
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