On 1 October 2026, Mr Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), participated in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly general policy debate “Europe, the fastest-warming continent: accelerating climate action with young people”. The Assembly, having heard the report of Sen. Aurora Floridia (Italy, SOC), proposed “the drafting of a legally binding instrument recognising, at Council of Europe level, the autonomous right to a healthy environment, guaranteeing substantive and procedural rights”, giving due consideration to present and future generations, and providing for a monitoring mechanism to which young people can contribute. The news referring to the debate can be accessed here. 

Mr Kishore also met with several Ambassadors and the Council of Europe high-ranking officials to discuss ongoing cooperation and perspectives for future common actions including the Council of Europe contribution to the COP31, implementation of the UN SDGs and Agenda 2030. In discussions with Krzysztof Zyman, Executive Secretary of the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement, Mr Kishore explored opportunities for strengthening collaboration in addressing regional disaster challenges, in particular in the framework of the Europe and Central Asia Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, and dissemination of the expertise of the EUR-OPA Network of Scientific Centres.