UN, AID PARTNERS ISSUE CALL FOR GLOBAL EFFORTS TO SLASH CLIMATE-INDUCED DISASTER RISKS

UN, AID PARTNERS ISSUE CALL FOR GLOBAL EFFORTS TO SLASH CLIMATE-INDUCED DISASTER RISKS
New York, Dec 3 2008 4:10PM
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners appealed today for stepped-up action on a global scale to boost preparedness for effectively responding to disasters brought on by climate change.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee – comprising nearly 20 UN agencies and aid organizations – and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (<"http://www.unisdr.org/">ISDR) issued the call in Poznan, Poland, where the latest round of UN climate change talks is under way.

"Climate change is not some futuristic scenario," cautioned John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. "It's happening today, and millions of people are already suffering the consequences."

Last year's devastating floods in sub-Saharan Africa and China, the heat waves in South-Eastern Europe, droughts in Eastern and Southern Africa and massive Caribbean hurricanes all serve as a "curtain raiser on the future," he added.

Nine out of 10 disasters recorded are climate-related, while the number of disasters has doubled to more than 400 annually over the past two decades.

During the course of the next 20 years, it s expected that the intensity, frequency, duration and extent of weather-related hazards will rise around the world.

Better disaster risk reduction, preparedness and response will curtail much of the loss and suffering resulting from such hazards.

According to a press release issued today by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA), investing in risk reduction can curb the amount of money needed to respond to emergencies once they have occurred.

For example, China averted losses of some $12 billion as a result of the just over $3 billion it spent on flood control between 1960 and 2000.
Dec 3 2008 4:10PM
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