Insufficient risk governance can leave societies unprepared for known or new hazards, increase vulnerability, hamper response efforts, and thus increase the likelihood that the hazard turns into a disaster. Disaster preparedness plays a critical role in avoiding and reducing the impacts of disasters. It is influenced both by actions taken to reduce risk and a lack of actions taken to effectively prepare responses.
All too often, we see that current disaster risk management approaches are not enough to deal with new extremes, are not designed for proactive rather than reactive implementation, or are hindered by lack of political will or cohesion. Effective risk governance requires a new approach that considers the root causes of disasters and their interconnected nature.