13 April 2012, New York
- With the risk of disasters increasing
globally, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) has underlined the central
role of healthy and well-managed ecosystems
in supporting the resilience of populations
before, during and after disasters.
Natural disasters caused
a record US$378 billion damage in 2011.
While mortality rates from disasters are
falling globally, thanks to improved early
warning and preparedness measures, some
29,700 people still lost their lives in
302 disasters last year.
Further Resources
UNEP and Disaster Risk ReductionGeneral
Assembly Thematic Debate on Disaster Risk
ReductionPartnership for Environment and
Disaster Risk ReductionUN Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20)Addressing
disaster risk through public investment
decisions, such as those related to land-use
planning and ecosystem management, was the
focus of a UN General Assembly thematic
debate held in New York yesterday by the
President of the General Assembly to contribute
towards the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable
Development.
Disaster risk reduction
and resilience in the context of sustainable
development have been identified as an emerging
issue for the forthcoming Rio+20 conference.
Representatives from
national and local governments, the humanitarian
community, academia, the private sector
and the UN system, including UNEP, took
part in the one-day debate.
Addressing the General
Assembly, the Director of UNEP's Division
of Environmental Policy Implementation,
Ibrahim Thiaw, said that investing in the
appropriate management of forests, wetlands
and other ecosystems could reduce disaster
risks by serving as natural buffers against
common hazards and supporting livelihoods.
"Applying ecosystem-based
approaches for disaster risk reduction and
climate change adaptation is a no-regret
investment and is cost effective, because
it impacts on the fundamental elements of
the disaster risk equation, namely regulating
hazards, controlling exposure and reducing
vulnerability," Mr Thiaw said.
"The natural infrastructure
provided by ecosystems is often more locally-accessible
and less expensive to maintain than human-made,
or 'grey' infrastructure, although built
and natural responses could be combined
as complementary solutions.
"Healthy ecosystems
are the best 'insurance cover' for those
who depend on natural resources for their
livelihoods and ultimately provide multiple
social, economic and environmental benefits
regardless of whether a disaster occurs
or not," he said.
Mr Thiaw cited a number
of examples from around the world that demonstrate
ecosystem-based approaches for risk reduction.
In Burkina Faso, more than 200,000 hectares
of drylands have been rehabilitated by local
farmers through traditional agricultural
and agroforestry techniques, resulting in
an additional 80,000 tons of food production
per year.
In Ethiopia, 1 million
hectares of land have been rehabilitated
and 600,000 hectares reforested through
a sustainable land and water management
programme (known as MERET), reducing drought
risks and increasing household food security
by 50%.
In western Jamaica,
UNEP has quantified the role of coral reefs
and seagrasses in protecting beaches against
storm surges and erosion.
Among the cost-effective
examples highlighted by UNEP were an investment
of ?2.3 billion by the Government of The
Netherlands to make "Room for the River"
and re-establish floodplains, resulting
in reduced flood risk for 4 million people
along its main rivers.
The Swiss Government
invests up to CHF 150 million per year in
forest management which provides protection
against mountain hazards, such as rockfalls,
snow avalanches and landslides and is five
to 10 times less costly than engineered
measures.
The President of the
66th General Assembly session, H.E. Mr Nassir
Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, opened the thematic
debate. Other speakers included the Secretary-General's
Chef de Cabinet, Susana Malcorra, and the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General
for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström,
as Moderator.
Key points from UNEP's
contribution to the thematic debate included:
There is a need to maximize
shared priorities between the disaster risk
reduction, climate change adaptation and
sustainable development agendas, recognizing
the important role of ecosystems in reducing
risk and providing for human well-being.
This integrated approach should be reinforced
at the Rio+20 Conference and in the post-2015
sustainable development agenda, as well
as other fora.
Factoring environmental
sustainability and risk reduction into public
investments and development planning will
achieve the necessary scale to effectively
tackle key drivers of risk, protect against
disaster losses, and support social and
economic development.
A number of environmental
management instruments are available - such
as integrated watershed management, protected
area management and drylands management
as well as environmental impact assessments
- which could be applied to make public
investments and sectoral development plans
more sustainable and resilient.
Strengthening national
and local capacities remains a critical
gap. The adoption of national policies and
legislation provides the institutional and
political mandate for implementing such
integrated approaches. In some countries,
appropriate policies and legislation are
already in place, but the main problem lies
in their enforcement and implementation.
The outcome of today's
thematic debate, a President's Summary,
will form a contribution to the Rio+20 process.
The Rio+20 conference will take place in
Brazil from 20-22 June 2012.
UNEP is a long-standing
advocate of the critical role of ecosystems
in reducing the risk and impact of natural
hazards and is a core member of the Partnership
for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction
(PEDRR). PEDRR is a global alliance that
promotes best practices and informed policies
on ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction
and adaptation.
Through a new strategic
cooperation with the European Union, UNEP
will over the next three years be piloting
ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction
projects in vulnerable countries in Asia,
Africa and the Caribbean, and documenting
lessons learned to inform policies and scale-up
efforts.
+ More
More Support Needed
for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa,
says Workshop
Nairobi, 10 April 2012
- Around 120 representatives from some 20
African countries, NGOs, UN Agencies and
other organizations have together stressed
the need for greater support for climate
change adaptation efforts in Africa, following
a workshop held at the headquarters of the
UN Environment Programnme (UNEP).
The event entitled Sharing
Lessons in Africa on Climate Change Adaptation
was organized by the CC-DARE Initiative
(Climate Change Adaptation and Development),
which is jointly run by UNEP and the UN
Development Programme (UNDP).
CC-DARE supports countries
in Sub-Saharan Africa and Small Island Developing
States to remove barriers and create opportunities
for integrating climate change adaptation
into national development plans.
On the final day of
the workshop, countries adopted a series
of recommendations to enhance the capacity
of communities, governments and other organizations
to undertake and support adaptation projects
Main recommendations
included:
African Governments
to make budget allocations in their national
budgets for the implementation of climate
change adaptation interventions
CC-DARE and other development
partners to widen their scope and intervene
in areas such as curriculum development,
climate research and innovation
Best practices and approaches
in climate change adaptation should be packaged
and communicated to partners
The model of CC-DARE
should be replicated in the designing of
bigger adaptation projects in order to bring
effective and efficient results
Overall, the workshop
aimed to provide a forum for knowledge sharing
and exchange of ideas on common climate
change risks, build on lessons learned from
projects across Africa, formulate common
solutions in support of national policy
processes and identify best practices for
delivering adaptation solutions.
The event followed the
confirmation last month of a donation of
US$15 million from the Government of Norway
to support the expansion of projects supported
by CC-DARE in Malawi.
CC-DARE activities in
the country include an initiative by the
Bunda College of Agriculture (University
of Malawi) to integrate climate change adaptation
in agriculture and natural resource management.
As part of this initiative, plans to develop
a MSc curriculum in Environment and Climate
Change are underway.
The funding from Norway
will allow this - and other initiatives
in Malawi which encourage local communities
to tackle food insecurity and environmental
degradation - to be expanded and also duplicated
in other parts of the country.
These collective efforts
will be led by a new project, Research and
Outreach for Managing Climate Change in
Malawi (TROMACC), which is to last five
years, beginning in August 2012. The overall
goal of the project is to improve livelihoods
and food security through innovative responses
and enhanced capacity for climate change.
