Floods affect 500 million people per year, will worsen with warming
S lvano Brice¤o, director of the UN International Strategy for
Disaster Reduction, said that floods accounted for 84 per cent of all
disaster deaths between 2000 and 2005 and caused $466 billion in losses
over the decade 1992-2001, or 65 percent of the total of all disasters.
U.N. deputy humanitarian coordinator Margareta Wahlstrom added that the
number of floods increased from 60 to 100 per year between 2004 and
2006.
"The problem today is that around the world vulnerability to
disasters continues to increase, a situation that will worsen with
climate change," said Brice¤o. "So we need to take action now to reduce
the risks of devastating impacts on people and their livelihoods.
Disaster risk reduction is not an option, it is an urgent priority."
"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential for cutting future
disaster risks. But an immediate task is also to prepare for more
extreme weather conditions - through disaster risk reduction programmes
that include strengthening public risk awareness, early warning systems
and community-based disaster preparedness," he added.
Flooding resulting from climate change is expected to affect more
people in the future. The number affected will be largest in the large
delta regions of Asia and Africa and in low-lying islands.
Brice¤o said that "modest investment" and simple measures could help
cut losses from floods and other natural disasters.
He pushed for the adoption and implementation of the Hyogo Framework
for Action, a plan devised after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The
Hyogo Framework "calls for establishing laws and policies for flood and
water management including zoning regulations to avoid building houses
on low-lying areas and to protect forests and wetlands that absorb and
purify water; building hospitals, schools, water and electricity
facilities in safe places; and strengthening preparedness plans for when
disaster strikes," according to the UN.
Also Thursday, after a meeting in Bangkok, top environmental and
health officials from Asian countries announced a UN-backed effort to
"reduce the estimated 6.6 million deaths in the continent each year that
are attributable to ecological factors such as air pollution, solid and
hazardous wastes and numerous man-made disasters."
"The region's high death toll from environmental degradation can be
avoided if we are determined to reverse the current trend," said Shigeru
Omi, Western Pacific Director of the UN World Health Organization (WHO),
which jointly organized the First Ministerial Regional Forum on
Environment and Health in Bangkok together with the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP).
"Solving environmental health problems requires collaboration between
health and environmental sectors. We need to strengthen our collective
commitment to priority environmental health challenges in the region,"
he added.
According to the UN, the Bangkok Declaration provides a mechanism to
share information, improve policy and regulatory frameworks at the
national and regional level, and promote the implementation of
integrated environmental health strategies and regulations.
Courtesy: Internet |