'Natural' disasters in Asia and the Pacific underscore the urgency for a meaningful climate change agreement
UNESCAP Press Release no: G/63/2009
Bangkok - It is almost unprecedented for any region to experience so many disasters over such a short period of time. Since last Saturday, 26 September, Typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines, a tsunami struck Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, and two massive earthquakes hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The resulting loss of lives, casualties and destruction to property is heartbreaking.
Climate change will only increase the magnitude and frequency of weather related disasters. So while not all of this past week’s natural disasters can be linked to climate change, they do underscore the need for negotiators here in Bangkok to reach a meaningful consensus that is both environmentally friendly and development oriented.
The world is at a historical turning point and must respond appropriately.
Firstly, we must not roll back the gains made in the fight against climate change and erode the progress achieved thought the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Consensus.
Secondly, the disasters of the past week remind us that Asia Pacific is the worlds’ disaster hot spot. A person living in Asia Pacific is four times more likely to be affected by natural disasters than someone living in Africa and 25 times more likely than someone living in Europe or North America. Our region experienced 42 percent of the worlds natural disasters between 1999-2008. We need to improve our regions’ disaster preparedness. Studies have shown that for every dollar invested in risks associated with disaster, four to seven dollars can be saved. Investing in disaster risk reduction and prevention measures is not only a moral imperative, it is financially smart.
The climate change talks here in Bangkok must result in meaningful targets for reducing green house gas emissions and a range adaptation measures that assist the poor and vulnerable. These include disaster risk reduction and prevention measures that help reduce, and in some cases avoid, the tragic loss of life and property we have witnessed over the past week. Developing countries do not have the capacity or resources to achieve these measures on their own. They need the appropriate support, technology and funding from the international community if they are to make any meaningful progress.
Mother Nature is not waiting for a bureaucratic resolution and she does not accept compromises. We must set aside our differences if an agreement is to be reached in Copenhagen this December that protects the ecosystems upon which all our lives depend.
by Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary