Mr. President,

I have the honor to deliver this explanation of position on behalf of the G77 and China.

At the outset, the Group would like to thank the President of the General Assembly for the preparations of this High Level Meeting. The Group is also thankful to the co-facilitators: Permanent Representatives of Indonesia and Australia and their respective teams, for their recognizable and tireless efforts in preparing the text of this political declaration, as well as facilitating the intergovernmental consultation process.

The Group engaged itself constructively throughout the negotiations over the draft text, with the objective to achieve a document that would clearly reflect the current state of implementation of the Sendai Framework for developing countries.

Mr. President,

I would like to introduce the specific concerns of G77 and China during the negotiation process of this document:

1- The Group regrets the prioritization of the Second Committee resolution on DRR over the Sendai Framework. While the Second Committee resolution on DRR is of paramount importance to address natural disasters and their impact on the development agenda, the Sendai Framework is the document being reviewed, and therefore we must be consistent with what was agreed and adopted in 2015. For instance, the Political Declaration of the Midterm Review has an inconsistency when referencing the terms of the transfer of technology, which should be “on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed” consistent with Sendai. As a result, such inconsistency provides various interpretations and diminishes the terms adopted in the Sendai Framework. Given that the Second Committee’s upcoming session will coincide with the adoption of the Political Declaration, it is of utmost importance to align the priorities and strategies to address natural disasters with the Sendai Framework and its Midterm Review.

2- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the impact of restrictive measures given that such restrictions impede the full achievement of economic and social development, particularly in developing countries. Whether it is an earthquake, hurricane, drought, flood, and so on, many developing countries are experiencing an unprecedented rise in natural disasters. Unfortunately, such restrictions have proven to severely impact on their developmental capacities to prepare and recover from natural disasters. Despite the Group’s readiness to accommodate concerns and engage on discussions on the impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on developing countries, the Group takes this opportunity to express its disappointment that there was an unwillingness to accept a bare mention to the impact of such restrictions given that they continue to severely affect the development and humanitarian situation of developing countries, especially in the context of natural disasters.

3- While the correlation between climate change and disaster risk reduction is valid and cannot be denied, there are many variables that have proven to exacerbate vulnerabilities in preparing and recovering from natural disasters such as the lack of means of implementation, poverty, underdeveloped infrastructure, conflicts, and so on. The Group also believes that disaster risk reduction is linked to all aspects of climate change in a comprehensive manner and thus the Political Declaration should not restrict such linkage to only mitigation and adaptation aspects. The Group voices its concern that climate change should be addressed in an integral and comprehensive manner rather than choosing only some of its elements, and that due regard should be given to means of implementation and loss and damage.

4- While the correlation between climate change and disaster risk reduction is valid and cannot be denied, there are many variables that have proven to exacerbate vulnerabilities in preparing and recovering from natural disasters such as the lack of means of implementation, poverty, underdeveloped infrastructure, conflicts, and so on. The Group also believes that disaster risk reduction is linked to all aspects of climate change in a comprehensive manner and thus the Political Declaration should not restrict such linkage to only mitigation and adaptation aspects. The Group voices its concern that climate change should be addressed in an integral and comprehensive manner rather than choosing only some of its elements, and that due regard should be given to means of implementation and loss and damage.

5- Taking into account the intensity and frequency of disasters, and considering the significant gap in disaster risk finance, the G77 & China would have liked to see more robust and targeted provisions for enhancing Means of Implementation to Developing Countries, in particular for the least developed countries, small island developing States, landlocked developing countries and African countries, as well as middle-income countries facing specific challenges.

6- The Group would also like to stress the need to tackle the objectives and expected outcomes of the Sendai Framework in a hollistic manner to address key priorities such as reducing global mortality and economic losses caused by disasters, strengthening resilience at all levels, and sharing and accessing knowledge, expertise, and best practices, particularly with developing countries with the least capacity to address disaster risks.

7- Noting that establishing Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems remains a challenge in many developing countries, the G77 & China strongly supports the UN Secretary General’s early warning for all initiative, which was launched at COP 27. While we are disappointed that the initiative could not be welcomed in the political declaration, we urge all relevant partners to strengthen support for the initiative as we move ahead.

The G77 & China wishes to affirm that the Sendai Framework falls within the scope of sustainable development, and we should not obscure how we deal with this issue going forward by conflating it with humanitarian processes and initiatives.

I thank you.