Global Platform G20 Side Event
South Africa's 2025 Presidency marks a historic first for the G20, as it is the first time the G20 will be held in Africa. The G20, a mechanism for collaboration among the world's largest economies, established a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Working Group in 2023, and South Africa aims to leverage its leadership of this group to foster global solidarity and cooperation, accelerating the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
Building on the work of the previous G20 Presidencies of India and Brazil, South Africa has retained the established priorities of the G20 DRR Working Group while introducing a stronger focus on solidarity and global cooperation. The goal is to enhance coordinated international efforts in DRR, with a special emphasis on knowledge sharing, technology transfer, and capacity building, particularly for the most vulnerable communities and nations.
South Africa will retain the G20 DRR Working Group's six established priorities: 1) addressing inequality to reduce vulnerability; 2) expanding global coverage of early warning systems; 3) promoting disaster-resilient infrastructure; 4) increasing financing for DRR and de-risking investments; 5) strengthening disaster recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction; and 6) advancing nature-based solutions. However, a focus will be placed this year on deliverables under priorities four and five.
This roundtable supports the Government of South Africa in communicating the progress on the priorities and deliverables under the 2025 Presidency of the G20 DRR Working Group. It aims to inform member states as well as to build momentum towards the July DRR Working Group meeting and final ministerial meeting in October.
The main objectives of this roundtable are:
- Enhanced awareness and comprehension of the group's activities and objectives among G20 members and invited G20 member states.
- Solicited insights to further amplify the group's impact through coordinated collective actions by G20 members.