Transcript World Meteorological Organization Working together in

World Meteorological Organization
Working together in weather, climate and water
WMO
Need for High Level Meeting on National
Drought Policy (HMNDP)
Mannava Sivakumar
Director
Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch
WMO: Climate and Water
www.wmo.int
Presentation
•
Introduction
• Droughts in 2011 and 2012
• Need for National Drought Policy
• Guiding Principles and Goals of National Drought Policy
• Need for High Level Meeting on National Drought Policy (HMNDP)
• Steps for the organization of HMNDP
• Conclusions
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Socio-economic Impacts of Climate-Related
Extremes on the Rise !
Energy
Hazard intensity and
frequency increasing linked
to climate variability and
change!
Aral Sea
Transportation
Water Resource
Management
Intensity
Strong Wind
People
Heavy rainfall / Flood
Agriculture
Urban areas
Vulnerability and
exposure on the rise !
Drought
Need for
Pro-active Risk
Management
Heatwaves
Frequency
Current Drought in the West-African Sahel
• An
insidious
natural
hazard which knows no
boundaries
• Over 13 million currently
affected by drought in the
West-African Sahel
• 10% - 15% malnutrition
rates in several countries
• In some areas malnutrition
exceeds
the
15%
threshold emergency.
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Other parts of the world are also affected
Drought is also critical in
other parts of the world
In 2010-11, Texas and
North Mexico
experienced an
exceptional drought
South-east England is officially in a state of drought, with
rivers and groundwater levels even lower than the 1976
records
UK Met Office: a risk of up to 10-fold increase in drought by
2100
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Drought in Hubei Province in China
A severe drought which has lasted
for five months since January 2011
along the Yangtze River region in
central China has rendered nearly
1,400 reservoirs in Hubei Province
temporarily unusable, devastated
farm fields and made drinking water
scarce.
The drought had left 315,000
people and 97,300 head of
livestock in Hubei short of drinking
water, and more than two million
acres of farmland had been
affected.
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Need for National Drought Policy
Given the current concerns
with
climate
change,
increasing frequency and
intensity of droughts with the
resulting impacts on many
sectors, in particular food and
water, the time is ripe for
nations to move forward with
the development of a national
drought policy.
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Need for National Drought Policy (2)
In the absence of a coordinated
national policy that focuses on
effective emergency response
systems including monitoring
and early warning, impact
assessment, and planning and
risk management strategies to
cope with the effects of drought
on society and the environment,
crisis or reactive management
generally typifies the response
of national governments around
the
world
to
drought
emergencies.
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Early Warning Systems Require Coordination
Across Many Levels and Agencies
National to local disaster risk reduction plans, legislation and coordination mechanisms
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Need for National Drought Policy (3)
• Lack of a clear national drought policy implies that governments at
the state, local and community levels must deal individually with
each national agency involved with drought assistance.
• Although at the national level, governments play a major role in
drought response, seldom does a single agency has the authority
to lead or coordinate drought management and response.
• There is an urgent need for a coordinated national drought policy
to develop proactive mitigation measures, adaptation strategies
and a safety net of emergency response actions that can be
effectively implemented at all levels through the cooperation of
agencies at the national level.
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Goals of National Drought Policy (1)
• Proactive mitigation and planning measures, risk
management, public outreach and resource stewardship as
key elements of effective national drought policy.
• Greater collaboration to enhance the national/regional/
global observation network and information delivery system
to improve public understanding of and preparedness for
drought.
• Incorporation of comprehensive governmental and private
insurance
and
financial
strategies
into drought
preparedness plans.
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Goals of National Drought Policy (2)
• Recognition of a safety net of emergency relief based on
sound stewardship of natural resources and self-help at
diverse governance levels.
• Coordination of drought programs and response in an
effective, efficient and customer-oriented manner.
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Why a Compendium on Drought Policy ?
• Since the National Drought Policy for any given country will
depend very much on the local circumstances and priorities,
it is important that the guidance on national drought policy to
any government should not be prescriptive.
• Instead, a Compendium of Desirable Elements in a National
Drought Policy can be compiled.
• All countries around the world will be encouraged to adopt
the elements that will be appropriate to their local
circumstances and national priorities and design their own
national drought policies.
• A template for National Drought Policies could be included to
guide the formulation of individual national drought policies.
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Justification for a High-level Meeting on
National Drought Policy (HMNDP)
A high-level dialogue on national
drought policy will facilitate actions
outreach beyond the usual reactive
approach
The traditional form of drought relief
depends
on
governmental
assistance,
discouraging
selfreliance & increasing the vulnerability
of various sectors to future droughts
The sixteenth World Meteorological
Congress
(Geneva,
2011)
recommended a HMNDP to address
essential drought issues, especially
in coordination with UNCCD
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Actions following WMO Cg-XVI
 WMO and UNCCD followed-up the Congress with two key events:
 July 2011 - Expert Meeting at George Mason University,
Washington DC, USA on a National Drought Policy Compendium
(the Proceedings published);
 November 2011, in Morocco - International Symposium on
Integrated Drought Information System (ISIDIS), bringing together
experts to discuss implementation plans
 WMO and UNCCD established a HMNDP International Organizing
Committee (HIOC), which held its 1st meeting in Geneva in December
2011
 A 2nd meeting (HIOC-2) organized on 11 and 12 June 2012 in Brasilia
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HMNDP organization
The HMNDP will be organized
in Geneva from 11-15 March
2013
WMO Trust Fund established to
support the participation of
experts from developing
countries
Countries and organizations
contributing > 100 k CHF to be
recognized as major sponsors
If you are interested to sponsor
HMNDP, please contact us.
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Key conclusions
The formulation of effective national drought policies
is indeed opportune, given the concern with the
increasing frequency and intensity of droughts
A compendium on national drought policies &
various consultations with governments before the
HMNDP will contribute to a global debate on the
urgency of national drought policies adoption
The HMNDP will provide the opportunity for
sustained
international
dialogue
and
an
intergovernmental declaration on national drought
policies
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Thank You
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL
ORGANIZATION
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