Dyson College of Arts and Sciences
Issue link: http://dysoncollege.uberflip.com/i/128987
Christchurch in New Zealand provides a good example of private-public partnerships following the devastating earthquake that took place last year. Visionary planning has resulted from the central and local governments, the community, and the private sector, coming together to create and maintain confidence, as well as seize opportunities, including collaborative partnerships, for the future of a stronger and more resilient Christchurch. Key to this is timely recovery and good decision-making that endures beyond the recovery. The central and the local governments are working collaboratively with private interests to ensure the recovery is business-friendly. This approach is very much encouraged by the UNISDR Private Sector Advisory Group, which brings together a wide range of private sector entities into a global partnership for action that encompasses private business, multinational and local trade organizations and government enterprises. All of these points of resilience building will bring us closer to our shared goal of a safer world for all. In closing, a primary argument for resilience building and private-sector involvement is aptly illustrated by what happened recently in South East Asia. Recent floods in Thailand caused Honda to extend production cuts at its Canadian and US assembly plants and Toyota to scrap its financial guidance, scale back output in Japan, and suspend overtime in North America as the Japanese auto industry struggled with the second crippling disaster in 2011. Intel, the world's highest-selling chipmaker, cut its guidance for fourth-quarter revenue by about $1 billion, and said that the global PC industry was reducing inventories and purchases. Its shares went down 1.9 percent, suggesting that investors were not happy with the extent of the damage inflicted by months of heavy rain in Thailand. Reports around the world generally agreed that the Industrial Production Index of Thailand shrank by 34.5 percent. The fate of Toyota, Honda, and Intel could have happened to any private-sector company conducting business in any area where natural hazards are the norm. We only have to cast our memories back to 2010 when Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted and caused a massive disruption of business, as airports across Europe had to close due to an ash cloud that drifted towards the continent. During the first week of 2012, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon highlighted the prevention of disasters and making the world safer as two of his "five generational priorities" for his second term, which began on 1 January. He said solutions lay with harnessing "the strong power of partnerships" to respond to the planet's biggest challenges. He underscored that "strengthening the partnerships among governments, business communities, civil organizations, and philanthropists would move the world in the direction." Strengthened partnerships among the private and public sectors are powerful opportunities that substantively enhance global efforts to reduce risks, build resilience, and rebuild with resilience as well as safeguard precious economic gains. 20