This
year, the world has watched aghast as unprecedented floods have
washed across Asia and swamped large swathes of Africa. Storms
have battered communities in the Americas, and are now smashing
China and South East Asia. Disaster after disaster has affected
millions of people on every continent
Lives have been disrupted, countless homes and businesses have
been destroyed and thousands of people have been killed. But
out of all of this, what is most alarming is the thought that
2007 may well turn out to be a prototypical year--an example
of the “new normal.”
Much of the public discussion on climate change has rightly
focused on reducing emissions, on reining in the big polluters
and on lessening the impact of climate change on future generations.
There is only now a growing understanding that much more needs
to be done to reduce the disastrous impact that climate change
is already having on this generation.
Around the world, more than 250 million people are affected
by disasters every year. According to the United Nations’
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the number of extreme
weather events such as storms and heat waves – events
at the heart of so much of this year’s suffering –
will continue to rise as a result of climate change.
The experience of the United Nations and the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies confirms this trend.
The United Nations this year has already launched 13 Flash Appeals,
breaking the record of ten Flash Appeals in one year. Of the
13 appeals, 12 have been for aid in response to climatic disasters—floods,
droughts, hurricanes, and cyclones.
Between 2004 and 2006, the number of disasters that the Red
Cross and Red Crescent responded to increased from 278 to 482.
Significantly, floods and other meteorological events have driven
this increase. In 2004, the Red Cross and Red Crescent responded
to 54 floods. By 2006 this figure had jumped to 121. Already
this year, the International Federation has responded to more
than 100 floods. These numbers do not include the so-called
‘small scale’ disasters – such as floods that
affect only two or three villages, but are devastating nonetheless.
Indeed, most disasters go unrecorded, too remote or obscure
or small-scale for the wider world to bother.
It is abundantly clear, then, that more will need to be done
to address this increase. For both the United Nations and the
Red Cross and Red Crescent, this will mean increasing demands
placed on our disaster response and preparedness mechanisms.
We will, of course, continue to strengthen our global, regional
and local capacities. But we believe that response must be accompanied
by systematic efforts to contain natural hazards with more investment
in, and commitment to, disaster risk reduction.
Risk reduction aims to reduce the odds of disastrous consequences
by doing everything possible before the event to protect life,
limit damage and strengthen a vulnerable community’s ability
to survive and to bounce back quickly. The solutions may lie
in simple things like educating children on what to do in emergencies
or planting trees on unstable hillsides to prevent landslides.
The more complex include early warning systems, earthquake-safe
construction, and responsible urban planning.
The point here is that there is no such thing as a natural disaster.
Floods, hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, heat waves, droughts,
even non-climate-related events like earthquakes, are natural
hazards. They become disasters only when they exceed a community’s
ability to cope.
Natural hazards and the disasters they trigger hit all countries
and communities, rich and poor, but it is poor people who usually
live in the most exposed and dangerous places and whose lives
will be most seriously disrupted by calamity. They become poorer,
deprivation deepens.
Some estimates suggest that as little as four per cent of annual
humanitarian assistance goes towards reducing disaster risk.
We believe that this must be significantly increased to at least
10 per cent if we as an international community are to take
real strides towards securing the future of vulnerable people.
The Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction represents the
Red Cross and Red Crescent’s strong commitment to increasing
its community based risk reduction efforts, in line with the
Hyogo Framework for Action. The Global Alliance will be rolled
out over the next 12 months, and will bring together all major
risk reduction actors such as the partners in the United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction which includes
UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, governments and
local authorities, along with institutions such as meteorological
offices and the World Bank.
In the past months, tens of millions have been affected by floods,
droughts, heat waves and tropical storms. Given the reality
of climate change, these numbers will inevitably continue to
rise unless we now accept the challenge, the responsibility,
the obligation to support communities in keeping out of harm’s
way.
John Holmes is United Nations Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Head
of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
Markku Niskala is Secretary General of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
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Markku
Niskala is Secretary General of the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (p16569)
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