Dear G7 Leaders,

The world was not ready for covid-19. But we could have been. We could have been prepared for the many climate-related disasters, famines, conflicts and global health threats of the past decade. Instead, we paid for these disasters with lives, not money.

That’s why we, a group of organisations and individuals working to stop risks turning into disasters, are coming together in 2021 to ask G7 leaders for a new global agreement to better predict, prepare and protect the world’s most vulnerable people from the big risks we face.

Every day we each take precautions in our own lives. We wash our hands or wear a mask. We try to save for an uncertain future, or we buy insurance. We must now apply this common sense at a global level.

While we can’t eliminate the greatest risks to life - pandemics, food shocks, extreme weather events - we have the ability to do a much better job to prevent and reduce risks, prepare better and protect people, especially the most vulnerable including women and girls, so these events don’t turn into crises.

We have the science and expertise to monitor and forecast risks, yet critical data gaps remain, and we still treat disasters as surprises. We have the financial know-how to have money in place when disaster strikes, yet we still end up passing around a begging bowl. When covid-19 hit, just 2% of global funding was planned and arranged in advance.

It’s time we learned from this, becoming prepared to respond and able to recover better, in order to save lives, protect livelihoods and uphold the dignity of those affected.  As the UK takes over the presidency of the G7 and COP 26, we are calling on G7 leaders to agree to: 

PREDICT CRISES BETTER by creating a new “Crisis Lookout”, to improve risk information and the prioritisation of crises globally, regionally and nationally.

PREPARE RESPONSE BETTER by agreeing a new plan to make pre-arranged finance the primary way that crises are paid for, so that funding gets where it is needed faster and with greater impact.

PROTECT PEOPLE BETTER by operationalising this approach now with support for an initial group of ‘pathfinder’ countries to explore better risk information and financing options, so they are ready when the next crisis hits. 

This agreement should be launched in the margins of this year’s G7 and COP26 summits, organised with the full participation of people living on the frontlines of crises and disasters around the world.

Disasters like covid-19 should no longer be surprises and failure to prepare can no longer be an option.

Yours,

Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Director General, African Risk Capacity (ARC)

Mark Plant, Chief Operating Officer, Centre for Global Development (CGD)

Daniel Clarke, Director, Centre for Disaster Protection

Lord Rees of Ludlow, Co-founder, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Co-Director, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

Ato Sufian Ahmed, Former Ethiopian Finance Minister

Kimberly Gire, Founder, Global Women Leaders

Michael Faye, CEO, Give-Directly

Hector Ibarra, CEO, Global Parametrics

Professor Saleemul Huq, Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)

Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Andrew Norton, Director, International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED)

Ekhosuehi Iyahen, Secretary General, Insurance Development Forum

Denis Duverne, Chairman, Insurance Development Forum

David Miliband, President & CEO, International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Hibak Kalfan, CEO, Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR)

Sara Pantuliano, CEO, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Abby Maxman, President and CEO, Oxfam 

Professor Paul Collier, Oxford University

Owen Barder, Chief Executive, Precision Agriculture Development

Ben Webster, Head of Secretariat, Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP)

Inger Ashing, CEO, Save the Children International

Christina Bennett, CEO, START Network

Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, UN Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)

Mark Lowcock, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)  

Amir Abdulla, Deputy Executive Director, UN World Food Programme (WFP)

Petteri Taalas, Secretary General, UN World Meteorological Organisation