Shane Moynihan
Ceist:216. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the actions her Department has had enacted since Ireland adopted the Sendai Disaster Framework. [14216/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 24 February 2026
Ceisteanna (216)
Freagraí scríofa
Disasters represent an immense cost to the world economy, and the human cost globally is immeasurable. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, adopted in 2015, seeks to prevent and reduce disaster risk including through investment in resilience, enhanced preparedness and building back better. Ireland supports this approach. The Government's international development policy, “A Better World”, commits to strengthening our approach to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in line with the Sendai Framework.
The Government has aligned our Sendai commitment with our key development policy priorities of Reducing Humanitarian Need and Climate Action. This has encouraged greater policy coherence between our climate, development and humanitarian assistance.
We work with a variety of partners on DRR. In partnership with the Asian Development Bank, we established the Ireland Trust Fund for Building Climate Change and Disaster Resilience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), through which Ireland has contributed to efforts to advance DRR and Disaster Risk Management (DRM) measures in the Pacific. We have also supported the Pacific Disaster Resilience Programme the SIDS.
Since 2015, Ireland has supported the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Disaster Emergency Response Fund (DREF) with €12.6 million in funding. The DREF supports communities affected by small-to-medium sized disasters. We have also provided €6.5 million to the IFRC Global Climate Resilience Fund, which delivers locally-led climate action through early warning, anticipatory action and shock-responsive social protection.
The Government has provided climate finance to humanitarian partners, including over €10 million to the UN OCHA CERF Climate Action Account since 2023, and €3.7 to the UN Systematic Observations Financing Facility. We are also strong supporters of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage and the Global Shield Solutions Platform. The Global Shield helps vulnerable countries to manage losses from climate change by providing pre-arranged financial protection for governments, businesses and communities. Together, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment have provided €10 million so support the Platform. The Loss and Damage Fund was established in 2023 at COP28 to support developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change with rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction actions. Ireland shares a seat on the Board of the Fund with the European Commission. We have contributed €25 million to date.
As a guest country of the South African Presidency of the G20, Ireland participated last year as an observer in the G20 DRR Working Group. We strongly supported the important deliverables achieved, including the Ministerial Declaration on DRR. Building on this, we will work to ensure greater complementarity in our joint efforts with vulnerable countries to realise the ambition of the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.