UN global agreements such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Sustainable Development Goals or the SAMOA Pathway for the Pacific Islands have placed fighting against adverse effects of global changes and natural hazards a priority by enhancing resilience in human systems. UNESCO has also been promoting the role of Science Engineering Technology Innovation (SETI) and Hydroinformatics as enablers to achieve sustainable development by providing new solutions for productivity, growth and socio-environmental sustainability to achieve goals 1, 9, 13 and 17 mainly and therefore to increase global resilience.
In Asia and the Pacific region, implementing and monitoring these goals and targets will require new technologies, global and regional cooperation along with comprehensive education and targeted capacity building. SETI and Hydroinformatics can provide customized tools for both education and capacity building and better understanding, knowledge, decision making, effective policy frameworks for building resilient and sustainable society. This session will discuss the progress on SETI and hydro informatics in the region, how it can contribute to build a water secure region, especially but not limited to the International Hydrological Programme regional network. Also with predicted increase in frequency and intensity of hydrological extremes, two major UN family initiatives, the International Flood Initiative and the International Drought Initiative will discuss their roles for achieving a water secure region and world.
Key topics: Disaster risk reduction (DRR), Hydro informatics, Science Engineering Technology Innovation (SETI), 2030 Agenda