At the upcoming G20 Summit in South Africa, global leaders will convene under the theme Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability. Yet the editor of this commentary argues that these aspirations cannot be realised unless disaster-risk reduction (DRR) becomes a central pillar of the agenda.
Global disaster losses now exceed US $2 trillion annually, when cascading and ecosystem-linked costs are factored in. The increasing severity and frequency of floods, fires, storms and droughts place immense strain on governments, businesses and insurers across the world. For emerging economies such as South Africa, infrastructural weaknesses and social inequalities further amplify vulnerabilities.
The article highlights a private-sector initiative in South Africa: Santam’s “Partnership for Risk and Resilience (P4RR)” worked with municipalities to bolster local disaster-risk education and infrastructure. Since 2012 it has supported 102 municipalities, impacting over 24 million people through services such as firefighter training and storm-water catch-pit cleaning.
The author contends that resilience must shift from being a cost line to a shared investment—and that the G20 is uniquely placed to champion this shift. Through knowledge transfer, joint financing, and multi-sector collaboration, global resilience can be strengthened. The private sector, insurers included, must integrate DRR into risk models, underwriting and infrastructure investment if insurance systems are to remain viable in a changing climate.
By placing DRR at the heart of its agenda, the G20 can drive a safer, more equitable future—turning aspiration into action, and risk into resilience.
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