A/HRC/37/30 III. Understanding resilience from a human rights perspective A. International agreements related to resilience 17. The concept of resilience features prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals and recent policy frameworks on climate change and humanitarian actions. The present section explores how the human rights framework can contribute to that debate. 18. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defined resilience as “the ability of a social or ecological system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic structure and ways of functioning, the capacity for self-organization, and the capacity to adapt to stress and change”.10 That understanding of resilience is anchored in the context of climate change adaptation focused on social or ecological systems rather than on people themselves. 19. In 2009, the United Nations International Office for Disaster Reduction defined the term as: “The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management”.11 20. The intergovernmental discussions and agreements on sustainable development, environmental and climate change, disaster risk reduction and humanitarian assistance have been built on the two definitions of resilience referred to above. However, there is a need for a much wider and more coherent understanding of what resilience is and the measures needed to strengthen resilience towards building sustainable societies and the full realization of all human rights. 1. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 21. Resilience is explicitly mentioned in two goals and eight targets of the Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty, food security, infrastructure and human settlements, agricultural production, climate-related hazards and natural disasters and marine and coastal ecosystems. That represents a marked shift from the 2000 Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals, which were void of any reference to resilience or related concepts. 22. Resilience features prominently in the preamble to resolution 70/1, in which Member States committed “to take the bold and transformative steps … to shift the world on to a sustainable and resilient path”, pledged that no one would be left behind, and set a vision for a “world where human habitats are safe, resilient and sustainable”. Goal 1 on ending poverty includes a target to build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters (target 1.5). Goal 2 on ending hunger includes a target to ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural production (target 2.4). Goal 9 on infrastructure and sustainable industrialization includes targets to develop and facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure (targets 9.1 and 9.a). Goal 11 on cities and human settlements includes targets to increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards resilience to disasters (target 11.b) and support least developed countries in building sustainable and resilient buildings (target 11.c). 10 11 See Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, fourth assessment report. Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, annex II. See United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, “2009 UNISDR terminology on disaster risk reduction”. 5