Geneva, 14 October 2009
- The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) observes the International Day for
Disaster Reduction
on Wednesday against the backdrop of a number
of catastrophic events in the Asia-Pacific
region in recent weeks.
On 26 September, Typhoon
Ketsana made landfall in the Philippines
causing at least 300 deaths and some two
million people to be displaced. Typhoon
Parma followed on 3 October, devastating
the agricultural sector and affecting more
than 300,000 people.
The damage caused by
the two storms is estimated at US$57 million
in property and infrastructure, as well
as monumental damage to agricultural production.
In addition, a series
of earthquakes hit Samoa and Indonesia on
30 September, killing at least 1,300 people
in Indonesia, and triggering a tsunami that
sent huge waves crashing into the Samoan
Islands, leaving 143 dead and entire villages
flattened or submerged.
"Major disasters
and humanitarian catastrophes often have
secondary impacts, including damage to infrastructure
and industrial installations" said
René Nijenhuis of the Joint OCHA/UNEP
Environment Unit (JEU) - the UN's mechanism
for mobilizing a rapid environmental response
to emergencies, which has deployed an environmental
expert to the Philippines to provide specialized
environmental expertise in disaster waste
management.
"These impacts
may pose a threat to the health, security
and welfare of the affected population.
Too often, these risks are neglected, resulting
in preventable injuries and even deaths.
A vital part of effective humanitarian response
is to ensure that these environmental impacts
are promptly identified, prioritized and
addressed consistently as an integral part
of effective emergency response."
Over a week after the
passage of Typhoon Ketsana, large areas
of the capital Manila and nearby provinces
remained flooded with waist-high stagnant
water, leading to risks of outbreaks of
waterborne diseases and health hazards from
overflowing solid waste and garbage that
had filled drains and mixed with the waterways.
Environmental degradation
is also increasingly recognized as a major
factor in the rapid expansion of weather-related
disaster risk.
The Global Assessment
Report published earlier this year by the
UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(UNISDR), which is based on more than 30
years of disaster data, found the degradation
of ecosystems to be one of three main drivers
of disaster risk.
Time is therefore of
the essence in reversing the trend of environmental
degradation, not only to reduce disaster
risk, but also to provide vulnerable populations
with better protection against disaster
impacts.
Indeed, healthy ecosystems
are the front line of defense against natural
hazards. Intact coral reefs can act as natural
wave barriers against storm surges by reducing
wave energy, while forests protect communities
against landslides and avalanches.
Through its Disaster
Risk Reduction programme, UNEP advocates
for ecosystems-based management approaches,
for instance with respect to coastal zone
and watershed management, in order to reduce
the impacts of natural hazards on vulnerable
populations.
Together with the ISDR
and other actors in the Partnership for
Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction
(PEDRR) - a coalition of UN agencies and
non-governmental organizations that it coordinates
- UNEP also remains committed to strengthening
global risk reduction strategies by ensuring
that environmental factors are taken into
account and that environmental management
is integrated as a critical tool for reducing
vulnerabilities and safeguarding development.
Note to Editors:
UNEP's Disasters and
Conflicts programme seeks to minimize environmental
threats to human well-being from the environmental
causes and consequences of conflicts and
disasters.
The programme is implemented
through the Post-Conflict and Disaster Management
Branch, which has responded to crisis situations
in more than 25 countries since 1999, delivering
high-quality environmental expertise to
national governments and partners in the
UN family. As the international community
has shifted its focus from post-crisis intervention
to crisis prevention, the branch has expanded
its operational range, adding disaster risk
reduction and environmental cooperation
for peacebuilding to its core services of
post-crisis environmental assessment and
recovery. The branch is based in Geneva,
Switzerland.
The Joint UNEP/OCHA
Environment Unit mobilizes and coordinates
the international emergency response to
acute environmental risks caused by conflicts,
natural disasters and industrial accidents.
The Unit is housed with the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in
Geneva, Switzerland, and works in close
cooperation with the Post-Conflict and Disaster
Management Branch.
The 2009 Global Assessment
Report on Disaster Risk Reduction can be
found online at: http://www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/report/index.php?id=9413
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of
Media
