Creating a European disaster response capacity

By Alessandro Candeloro

On 28 October 2010, Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, during a meeting at the European Policy Centre informed that the Commission has adopted a proposal to create a European Disaster Response Capacity which addresses the entire ‘disaster cycle’ from prevention to preparedness and from response to recovery, whose aim is to get the right assistance to the right place as quickly as possible.

The number of recorded disasters – she said - between 1975 and 2010 has risen fivefold and the damages caused have risen similarly. “We should be ready for more of the same”, she added.

Georgieva illustrated a very worrying global disaster scenario. World-wide, disasters affect around 230 million people and claim an average of 85,000 lives each year. In an average year damages cost almost €70 billion. Disasters hit developing countries hardest. The poorest populations are most vulnerable. For developing countries – for which the EU (European Commission and Member States combined) is the world's largest humanitarian donor - the loss of life is particularly high and economic losses due to natural disasters are some 20 times greater than in industrialised countries. This is despite the fact that the economic losses in developed countries are potentially much higher because there is generally more infrastructure that can be destroyed. The Haiti earthquake wiped out the national economy and is estimated to have caused about $8 billion in damages. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused damages worth $81 billion - more than the combined economies of the 6 smallest EU Member States.

European countries are relatively well prepared to deal with disasters. But Europe faces threats that range from flooding to forest fires, from hurricanes to earthquakes and from industrial accidents to terrorism. Over the last twenty years, disasters have killed nearly 90,000 Europeans and affected more than 29 million others. Economic losses are particularly high in Europe with annual losses averaging €15 billion.

The main reason behind this accelerating trend of disasters is climate change - almost 90% of all damages from natural disasters come from weather related events. Population growth and urban growth worsens the effects of natural disasters. The population in large cities exposed to earthquakes and cyclones is estimated to double by 2050 from 680 million in 2000 to 1.5 billion.

“We need to take precautions to face an increasingly risky world" says Kristalina Georgieva. "The primary responsibility for disaster prevention, preparedness and response lies with national governments, but coordinating activities between the EU and Member States will deliver a better European response than Member States can provide by working alone (…). Last but not least, a strong European response, both at home and in third countries, is a demonstration of solidarity which is the most precious of European values”, the Commissioner underlined.

The Commission proposal for the set up of an EU Emergency Response Capacity is centered on four key actions: the development of shared reference scenarios for the main types of disasters; mapping Member States’ civil protection assets that can be used for an EU response to these scenarios; ensuring common transportation arrangements for EU assistance are in place; and setting up a new Emergency Response Centre.

The new Centre will merge the ECHO and Civil Protection crisis rooms to create a re-enforced centre inside the Commission which will serve as a platform to provide a more effective EU response whenever and wherever a disaster strikes. It will collect real-time information on disasters, monitor hazards, prepare scenarios for different types of disasters, work with Member States to map available assets and coordinate the EU's disaster response efforts. It will have direct links with the civil protection and the humanitarian aid authorities in Member States which will ensure a fully joined-up approach to disaster response.

“The EC proposal for an EU disaster response capacity, the Commissioner said, will allow us to transform the way that Europe manages disasters. When a major disaster strikes we know exactly what capacities we have on standby and are able to mobilise them immediately. The challenge of the coming months, Ms. Georgieva concluded, will be turning our proposal into a fully operational reality which will save lives, limit damages and ultimately save money”.