Dubai, 3 May 2023, In response to the increasing frequency and intensity of natural and man-made hazards around the world, a Real-Estate Resilience Tool has been developed to help businesses value, assess, and plan for asset and operational resilience. The tool was launched at the ARISE UAE board meeting in Dubai as an important milestone to enhance ARISE’s contribution to creating global resilience.

Developed in partnership with the private sector, the Real-Estate Resilience Tool will assist with strategic decision-making that drives greater resilience in business operations and assets. It is considered an advocacy tool to achieve change in the real estate sector and its industry practices at various stages.

The tool comes as a response to the frequent hazards in the region, and the need to advance regulations and reduce risk to create resilient communities. It stresses the important role of the private sector and will be piloted in several communities and developments in the UAE.

The Real-estate resilience tool takes a broad view that considers not only traditional factors such as financial value, climate change resilience, and transitioning to a less polluting economy but also a wider social context, the natural world, and the interactions between nature, society, and development, acknowledging that shocks and stresses may occur that are not necessarily predictable.

The Real-estate resilience tool will be subject to peer review, which will be conducted internally to test its effectiveness, while other companies in the real estate industry will also validate it. Major real estate companies and developers in the UAE have expressed their interest in using the tool, highlighting its potential to enhance resilience in their business operations and assets. Further details about the tool, including its features and benefits, will be officially announced at an event in the UAE at the end of May, organized by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) and the United Nations.

A Real estate Committee was established and operates under the guidance of UNDRR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE)-UAE. The committee brought together private sector experts in the real estate industry to support and facilitate the development of the Real-Estate Resilience Tool. The ability of real estate assets to adequately prepare for such events and quickly return to full operations – a quality known as resilience – contributes significantly to a community’s ability to bounce back. Understanding and measuring disaster risk to infrastructure systems are instrumental in designing resilience plans. Appropriate adaptation strategies should also be included in industry standards and practices.

The launch of the Real-estate resilience tool platform for effective readiness is a step forward and an important milestone to enhance ARISE’s contribution to creating global resilience. It is a welcome development in the real estate sector and demonstrates the industry’s commitment to creating resilient communities and assets.