Why does understanding the systemic nature of risk matter in the midst of COVID-19?

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SOURCE(S):  UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (UNDRR)

By Marc Gordon, UNDRR and Scott Williams, Co-Chair - GRAF Working Group on Fostering Systems Thinking

"This is the first in a series of eight articles co-authored by Marc Gordon (@Marc_4Drisk) and Scott Williams (@scott42195), building off the chapter on ‘Systemic Risk, the Sendai Framework and the 2030 Agenda’ included in the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk 2019. These articles, that will be released over the next 10 days, explore the systemic nature of risk made visible by the COVID-19 global pandemic, what needs to change and how we can make the paradigm shift from managing disasters to managing risks.

There are profound implications in making the shift to a holistic understanding of risk as a dynamic three-dimensional topography that is constantly changing through time. This series of articles will elaborate on current and emerging approaches to assessing and analysing systemic risks; the fundamental characteristics of systemic risks; some of the possible approaches to governance of systemic risks; the importance of building collective intelligence and generating relational information to improve our ability to be sensitive to interdependencies and to ensure responses to systemic risks are informed by a systemic perspective; and finally, introduce the Global Risk Assessment Framework (GRAF), which is an open and collaborative global initiative to help the world better understand and manage the systemic nature of risk as embodied in the COVID-19 pandemic."

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"With non-linear changes in hazard intensity and frequency - a reality now increasingly well understood by citizens and policymakers across the world - the imperative for greater ambition and accelerated systemic action is clear. COVID-19 compels new conceptual and analytical approaches to improve understanding and management of risk dynamics and complex, cascading risk drivers at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Understanding the dynamic and interactive nature - of zoonotic pandemics and other systemic risks - requires us to pay attention to the interactions and interdependencies between physical, technological, social and environmental hazards, and a heightened attention to “anthropogenic metabolism”. ...