GRF Davos is part of the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) since 2010.

About PEDRR

The Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) is a global partnership comprised of UN agencies, international and regional NGOs as well as specialist institutes that collectively aim to influence policy, enhance implementation and better coordinate efforts in environmental management for disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods. It promotes ecosystems management as the key strategy to reduce disaster risk, increase local resilience and adapt to a changing climate.

Formally established in 2008, the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) is a global alliance of UN agencies, NGOs and specialist institutes. As a global thematic platform of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), PEDRR seeks to promote and scale-up implementation of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and ensure it is mainstreamed in development planning at global, national and local levels, in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action. It provides technical and science-based expertise and applies best practices in ecosystems-based DRR approaches. PEDRR is guided by its vision of: “Resilient communities as a result of improved ecosystem management for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA)”. Its objective is to pool expertise and advocate for policy change and best practice in ecosystem management for DRR and CCA, based on science, practitioners’ experience and indigenous knowledge.

Vision

Resilient communities as a result of improved ecosystem management that reduces disaster risk and enables adaptation to climate change.

Purpose

• Provide expertise and the latest information on ecosystem management for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

• Promote best practices in ecosystems-based approaches at national and community levels.

• Coordinate and mainstream environment initiatives within the ISDR system.

What PEDRR does

• Advocacy: PEDRR raises awareness of the role of ecosystems in disaster risk reduction and promotes innovative natural resource management approaches, such as integrated flood management, for risk management. It provides technical expertise to influence global and national policies and to support the ISDR system.
  

• Exchange of knowledge and practices: Drawing from science, practitioners’ experience and indigenous knowledge systems, PEDRR pulls together cutting-edge research and field-based examples that demonstrate ecosystems-based approaches to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
  

• Networking: PEDRR promotes partnerships at global, regional and national levels and fosters collaboration between the environmental science and development communities.

Ecosystems, livelihoods and disasters: Reducing disaster risk through ecosystem management

Environment and disasters are linked in two important ways. Disasters induced by natural hazards can have adverse environmental consequences, while degraded environments cause or amplify the negative impacts of disasters. Global climate change will magnify ecosystems degradation and disaster risk due
to increasing temperatures and extreme weather events, resulting in floods, landslides, heat waves and prolonged droughts. Healthy and well-managed ecosystems, on the other hand, are more robust against hazards. As such, healthy ecosystems are better able to buffer against disasters and continue to provide benefit to the
communities in post disaster situations. These important services provided by ecosystems, however, are often unrecognized or undervalued. Adopting an integrated approach to ecosystem management for sustainable livelihoods, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction is therefore the way forward.