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Asian
Tsunami will wreak environmental issues for years to come
Nairobi, 30 December 2004 -- As the Asian earthquake and tsunami death
toll is now feared to be approaching 150,000 people, emergency
humanitarian assistance remains the top priority, but urgent
environmental concerns that threaten human health must be addressed, the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today.
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UNEP earmarks $1 million for
environmental needs assessments
The Organization decided to create a Task Force in Geneva to coordinate
all inputs from the UNEP system to identify and alleviate the
environmental impacts of the disaster and to support the efforts of the
affected countries and the UN.
UNEP has mobilized $1 million to respond to the immediate needs
identified by the region's Governments. "Our support echoes directly the
requests from national authorities for environmental experts to assess
and mitigate the urgent problems. Therefore, we are sending experts to
work with the Governments and the UN country teams", underlined Mr.
Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of UNEP.
The agency has also strengthened its office in Bangkok, which is
responsible for activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
"While the focus is to save lives and fight diseases, it is also
important to address underlying risks, such as solid and liquid waste,
industrial chemicals, sewage treatment and the salinization of drinking
water. The damage to ports and industrial infrastructure may be severe,
with untold risks to human health. Likewise, revitalizing local
communities and their livelihoods will require rehabilitating and
protecting vital natural ecosystems, in particular mangrove forests and
coral reefs", Mr. Toepfer said.
He added: "UNEP is therefore also mobilizing its remote sensing and
Geographic Information System (GIS) capacities, in collaboration with
other UN agencies, to help identify impacts and make relevant
information available to relief efforts. All in all, a number of grave
environmental concerns must be taken into account as the reconstruction
plans are drawn up."
Several Governments in the region have stressed to UNEP the importance
of developing effective early-warning systems. This issue will be high
on the agenda of the International Meeting on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), scheduled to take
place in Mauritius from 10 to 14 January 2005, and at the World
Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), scheduled to take place in
Kobe, Japan, from 18 to 22 January. UNEP will be a main contributor to
these conferences.
Note to Editors
Details on the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the
Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States (SIDS) taking place in Mauritius 10 to 14 January 2005
can be found at
http://www.un.org/smallislands2005/ and
http://www.sidsmauritius2005.mu/
Details on the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) scheduled
to take place in Kobe, Japan from 18 to 22 January can be found at:
http://www.unisdr.org/wcdr/
Prior to the disaster, UNEP warned on 15 December that 2004 is set to go
down in history books as the most expensive year for the insurance
industry worldwide as a result of hurricanes, typhoons and other
weather-related natural disasters. See press release at:
http://www.unep.org/NewsCentre/
United Nations activities are coordinated by the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). More information can be
found at:
http://ochaonline.un.org/index.asp and at:
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf
For more information, contact: Eric Falt
Spokesman/Director UNEP Division of Communications and Public
Information
Tel: +254-20-623292, mobile: +254-733-682.656
E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org
www.unep.org
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