First Annual International Real Estate & Hospitality Forum

Welcome remarks by UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton at the First Annual International Real Estate & Hospitality Forum

October 15, 2019

Photo: Leli Blagonravova/UNDP

First Annual International Real Estate & Hospitality Forum

Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace, Tbilisi

15 October 2019

 

Welcome remarks by UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton

 

Good morning everyone, and to our visitors arriving from abroad, welcome to sunny Tbilisi.

Let me start by thanking the organizers for the kind invitation to speak at this event.

As the head of the United Nations Development Programme office here in Georgia, I would like to congratulate you on the theme you have chosen for this international forum.

“Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities” is a core component of the Sustainable Development Goals, the ambitious agenda of 17 global goals that all of the member states of the United Nations agreed at the General Assembly session in 2015 to try to achieve by the year 2030.

One entire goal – SDG 11 – is devoted to this idea, namely: “Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” Helping countries achieve this goal is part of UNDP’s global mandate, and we are pleased to see such a distinguished group of professionals commit to the same effort.

UNDP’s work tends to focus on public policy and working with Government and public-sector institutions, but we know that without a strong commitment by the private sector to the principles of sustainable development none of what we want to achieve is possible.

If we unpack the targets and indicators that have been defined to measure the world’s progress towards SDG#11, we can see that the threat of natural disasters looms very large.

Indeed, target 11.5 calls on countries “to significantly reduce by the year 2030 the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations.”

This target looks tailor-made for cities like Tbilisi, which is home to around one-third of the country’s entire population and has been witnessing new construction at a breakneck pace.

This exuberant urbanization is testament to Georgia’s investment potential, but it also comes with some very strong caveats. Land-use planning does not always factor in all the risks; the swift pace of permit approvals, while good for business, does not always allow for sound scrutiny or planning; and construction and building codes are not always properly enforced.

Indeed, a troubling number of recent on-the-job fatalities has made occupational safety in the construction industry a keen concern for Tbilisi and other Georgian cities.

Factoring in the new risks that come with climate change – most prominently the greater frequency and force of extreme weather events – means that cities like Tbilisi need urgently to apply more realistic risk-compliant building regulations and land use planning principles.

A lot of good work has already been done, and we would point in particular to the recent adoption of a new City Master Plan, which sets clearly defined land use and construction standards, and requires thorough environmental and social impact assessments.

But there is still room for improvement, particularly in ensuring that urban development takes into account the high seismic risks and the rising threat of climate-driven disasters that Georgia faces.

Indeed, Georgia has faced heavy costs from natural disasters over the past two decades, with more than 152 lives lost and economic losses totaling more than 1.2 billion dollars.

The City of Tbilisi has seen these threats first-hand, in the disastrous flash floods that hit the city in June 2015, killing 23 people, destroying the Zoo, and causing 24.3 million dollars in damages.

This disaster was a wake-up call for Georgia, and UNDP has been proud to work with national authorities since then to develop a comprehensive 70-million-dollar program aimed at drastically reducing the risk of floods and other climate-driven disasters.

This program, funded by the Green Climate Fund, the Georgian Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, covers all 11 of the country’s major river basins and will provide direct protection to 1.7 million people, almost half of the population.

Its key elements include:

  • Conducting satellite-based hazard and risk mapping of all the country’s major river basins to locate and characterize the main threats to people and property;
  • Upgrading hydrometeorological observation networks to monitor weather conditions and understand, in real time, when and where water levels are changing;
  • Creating early warning systems to ensure that affected populations are alerted in time to take action, and that people at risk know what actions to take;
  • Working with national institutions and local communities to improve zoning and building permit systems, to prevent construction in high-risk areas; and
  • Wherever threats are imminent, building protective barriers or adopting other nature-based measures to prevent flooding, such as reforestation to reinforce river banks.

The philosophy here is all about shifting from a reactive, recovery approach to prevention.

Your deliberations will provide a wealth of knowledge and good practices that can contribute to this effort, for Tbilisi and the many other urban centers that mirror its development path.

At UNDP we look forward to contributing our experience and expertise to this effort, and let me reiterate our gratitude to you for your commitment to sustainable and resilient cities.

Thank you.