In recent years, human social and economic activities have been undergoing increasingly extensive and far-reaching impacts of disasters amid global climate change, with disasters and economic and social risks intertwined to bring about even grimmer circumstances and challenges. In 2015, the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Sendai, Japan, adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, laying a good foundation for building international consensus on enhancing disaster resilience, improving climate change adaptation, and realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The year 2023 is an important milestone for achieving the target E under the Sendai Framework, and an important opportunity to reflect on what the international community has done in understanding risks, strengthening disaster risk preparedness and improving disaster risk governance capacity over the past eight years.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the prevention and control of disasters, and has been actively participating in global disaster reduction action. ln recent years, China has placed disaster prevention, mitigation and relief in a more prominent position, actively responded to international initiatives such as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and made every effort to turn the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and SDGs into action. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered on many occasions important speeches on disaster prevention, mitigation and relief and stressed the importance to ensure effective disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief in the new era, establish a sound disaster risk reduction system, and promote the improvement of disaster prevention and risk governance capacity. He noted that it is essential to act on the principles of giving priority to disaster prevention and combining prevention, response and relief, integrating disaster reduction and emergency disaster relief, shifting the focus from post-disaster relief to pre-disaster prevention, from single-hazard response to integrated disaster reduction, and from reducing disaster losses to mitigating disaster risks. He also emphasized the need to firmly instill the idea of disaster risk management and comprehensive disaster reduction, step up implementation of nine key projects for disaster prevention and control, actively promote the modernization of the system and capacity in this regard and deepen international cooperation in this field.

To improve disaster risk reduction capacity and enhance international cooperation, Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) of the People's Republic of China will hold the Second Belt and Road Ministerial Forum for International Cooperation in Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management (BRIDRREM Forum) in November 2023. As part of BRIDRREM Forum activity, "Strengthening Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Development"  Sub-Forum on Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief will be held on 11-12 October 2023 in Beijing.