#DRR Disaster Risk Reduction – #DutytoWarn

Africa – Americas – Arab States – Asia & Pacific – Central Asia – Europe

 

When all the ice has melted, first I will be Warm and then I will be Cold.

Stay up-to-date with the analysis and outcomes of Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law Symposium 2017 by our Reading blog posts.

#ClimateChance #ClimateChance2017 #Agadir #COP22 #COP23 #ONG #Climat #Humanrights

1 #DRR Disaster Risk Reduction – “#Duty-to-Warn”

Disaster law initiatives to combat climate change – “Duty-to-Warn”

How to grapple with the increasing frequency and severity of a wide array of both ‘human-made’ and ‘natural’ disasters.

Experts say we have three years to save the planet

International law must comply by 2020 latest with national #disasterlaw

 

Governance

Law part of the solution and remains part of the problem.

Domestic lawmaker trying to influence development of international law

Top down

State and territorial Sovereignty (no assistance) if state protection against disaster in place.

Responsibility to protect in a disaster event, deliberate action.

Is there a will to extend international law, yes within the domestic jurisdiction?
Is there a will to extend the new international treaties within the domestic jurisdiction?

Right to life, right to housing – Bottom up

In decision making leaders can compel more soft law, before the actual disaster events occur

 

Work together communal/regional level with law as support most important.

Can customary law affect traditional international law?

 

Can international standards and codes to interpret what is human rights? Bring as evidence?

Duty-to-prevent contagious diseases, or responsibility. No silver bullet solution.

Join a treaty or not

R G P – Prevention disaster law

 

Unpredictable Powerlessness Right to information

Early Warning Systems

Tropical storms and hurricanes

Destroy 90% of the economy

Integrated part of the countries development plans. From represent a shift from managing disaster to focus on risks.

Public policies and legal framework

Who and how to make a declaration of a disaster.

Decision and awareness for

Legislative status demand focus on vulnerable groups

Governor’s incentives would be most appropriate

The implementation for education and awareness building for decision makers and politicians and empower local drr authorities.

 

Multiple sources if information to find their ways

 

Sendai framework target (g), increased access to multi-hazard early warning systems.

How to ensure a single voice principle duty-to-warn and the general self-preparedness concept.

Legal obligation – Notify boundary states in duty-to-warn article 9 “reduce risk”

 

Four technical component elements in early warning systems in Bonn 2003

1 Risk Knowledge – Prior Knowledge of the Risks Faced by Communities

2 Warning Service – Technical Monitoring and Warning Service for These Risks

3 Dissemination of Understandable Warnings to Those at Risk

4 Response Capability – Knowledge and Preparedness to Act

Metrological hydrological organisations and services

Third part

Peoples Centred Early Warning Systems

Triangulating possibilities

Multiple channels used

Europe: Assess and mitigate risk to establish emergency plans participatory approach.

Citizen’s rights to receive information before and during an emergency

Self-protection buildings high risk activities. Prevention for false alarms – Crowed wisdom.

When is redundancy needed? Compulsion depends on situation to save life, linked to impact.

Should storms be named – impact to preparedness generate emotional reaction?
Can sustainable development in the NUA be implemented faster through generation of emotional Reaction?

Transition when crossing boundaries

Make sure updated sectoral validated emergency plans in place, with the effort and strive to rescue every life. Protection against hacking.

Apart from People Centred Early Warning Systems with triangulating possibilities (social media) etc.  Why have law makers, in 14 years, failed to implement the Early Warning Systems internationally?

 

2011 Arab spring – safe refugee passage out

Chartering of planes and boats between Malta and Libya

Required held Mirage planes back

Complex because no-flight zone

Coordination-team

Army, police, civil protection, head authorities, hospitals, private contractors, hoteliers, cruise liners

Took injured people from both sides of the conflict up till 2014

WHO, Red Cross

What happens if you lose keppy up????
A business continuity plan that a could be involved in

 

Resist – The implementation for education and awareness building for decision makers and politicians and empower local DRR authorities.

Build – Work together communal/regional level with law as support most important. Capacity building How to make a declaration of a disaster?

Rise – In decision making leaders can compel more soft law, before the actual disaster events occur.

Make sure updated sectoral validated emergency plans in place, with the effort and strive to rescue every life.

#ClimateChance #CCAgadir17 #Cities #EUSEW17 #c40cities #NUA #NAU #CCCRdg #Habitat3 #Humanrights

 

#SendaiFramework #Switch2Sendai #Policy #Governance

#Cities #Safety #Arctic #Maritime

#UCEEP

#HumanRights

#DRRplanning

#REinsurance

#Implementation

#EWS #EarlyWarningSystems

#Hazards

#Federation Disaster Law Programme

#RedCross #Oilspills #ocean #ships #environment

#Disasterlaw #UrbanDisasterLaw

#law #disaster #risk #reduction

 

#DRR Disaster Risk Reduction – #DutytoProtect

Africa – Americas – Arab States – Asia & Pacific – Central Asia – Europe

 

When all the ice has melted, first I will be Warm and then I will be Cold.

Stay up-to-date with the analysis and outcomes of Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law Symposium 2017 by our Reading blog posts.

#ClimateChance #ClimateChance2017 #Agadir #COP22 #COP23 #ONG #Climat #Humanrights

1 #DRR Disaster Risk Reduction – “#Duty-to-Protect”

Disaster law initiatives to combat climate change – “Duty-to-Protect”

How to grapple with the increasing frequency and severity of a wide array of both ‘human-made’ and ‘natural’ disasters.

Experts say we have three years to save the planet

International law must comply by 2020 latest with national #disasterlaw

Under Sendai Framework priority 2 – Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk (Duty to protect);

Global and regional levels
28. To achieve this, it is important:
(a) To guide action at the regional level through agreed regional and sub-regional strategies and mechanisms for cooperation for disaster risk reduction, as appropriate, in the light of the present Framework, in order to foster more efficient planning, create common information systems and exchange good practices and programmes for cooperation and capacity development, in particular to address common and trans-boundary disaster risks;

Are disaster management services the main duty-bearers to roll out DRR?

Break down legal fragment between DRR, Climate adaptation, the Tree proposal, Sendai framework, the SDGs, also between nuclear regulations.

Land use and forestry proposal for 2021-2030 – Forest laws to reduce deforestation.

National framework regulations needed now in;

  • Land use and urban planning
  • Building codes – Retrofits of existing buildings, Exemplary new buildings and Efficient equipment
  • Environment and resource management
  • Safety standards

 

Connect DRR and climate change, after New Zeeland 2010 Building code demolish or rescue.

2011 International convention from prevention of pollution from ships.

Mexico mainstreamed DRR law in all sectors. France mayor sent to prison for ignoring DDR laws.

Civil protection law = Disaster management (law to much focus on response)

Sectoral laws like Climate change adoption laws and development approvals important in rural and sub-urban areas. Linkage between environment laws and climate change laws.

Why do we need a lawyer? Protection of rights links to disaster

Legal disaster

Customs law disaster

Why compulsion and force?

Why international? Paragraph 14 Cooperation legal and not

Consent Capacity Building (ILC) framework adopted 2 months after Sendai 2018 next

Legislation/Regulations Is it a Self form of disaster risk reduction DRR?

Can monitoring DRR indicators alone identify (urban/rural) hazards and exercise disaster relief law of public response?

Disaster Ill-star

1950-60 Defense did research on disaster

Values scope and scale of a loss

Volition choices in relation to hazards

Valocity policies response times’ project, risk, predict – time horizon

Vicinity geography also social cultural economic, legal overlays

Vulnerabilities = impact outcome (origin)

Viewpoints philosophy

Victims disaster label, response label (victim-hood)

Katrina –> Depress obsess –> Super dome

Victims vs. Cash / Charity patterns

Natural more emo than man-made disaster

2003 August heatwave 14 802 (living on climbing 7th floor) – Time frame Chernobyl 100 (1 000 cancer)

Does climate legislation and regulation protect Who is an (urban/rural) disaster victim, healthy/sick people?

 

Core DRR mitigation and prevention response to disasters and hazards – linked to relief union

1st November 1755 Lisbon earthquake 1/3 loss – Urbanisation important

Voltaire unforeseeable and random – Urbanisation important

1927 National Relief Union

Preventive measures against disasters

UN early warning systems – Iran earth quake 1963

Pollution Sustainable Development

1980 Prevention Natural Disaster Reduction

1992 Rio declaration

UNFCCC – Framework Climate Change

Kyoto protocol

1991 Resolution 46182

Yokohama Framework

Millennium change

Climate change, Human rights, Environment law

Sendai

PREVENTION at activities and measures to avoid existing and new disaster risks.

MITIGATION de-licensing or minimizing of impact of hazardous events.

PREPARDENESS capacity developed by governments responds and recover organisation, community or individuals to effectively anticipate respond to and recover from the impact of likely or imminent or current disasters.

Commentary

Early Warning Systems

SARC-agreement

The obligation of recording casualties is not an instrument of to reflect disaster victims

Urban Disaster Law

Duty is a conduct and not a result, to shall reduce risk of disaster and harm precaused thereby.

 

The U.?N. Human Rights Council adopted the resolution, which was submitted by the Brazilian and Ecuadorian governments, last month at its headquarters in Geneva. Diplomats say the document could now lay the groundwork for more cities-focused work by the council –>

GOOD NEWS Adopted resolution #L30 – 37th Meeting, 35th Session Human Rights Council http://webtv.un.org/watch/ahrc35l.30rev.1-vote-item3-37th-meeting-35th-regular-session-human-rights-council/548071109600

Can the Sendai framework be enforced? Is there a will to extend the new international treaties within the domestic jurisdiction?

Exploring accountability, implementation and enforcement in the Sendai framework

States have a disaster law impact on human rights not only in their own territories.  Also, often there is an extraterritorial disaster law impact – on people in the rest of the world.

This project aims to provide a critical evaluation of the law and policy of whether and to what extent disaster law vs. human rights law is and should be applicable to states extraterritoriality.

When forced climate migrants decide to make perilous border crossings: the causal role of disaster

Themes:
Climate Change, Community-based DRR, Education & School Safety, Environment & Ecosystems, Gender, Health & Health Facilities, Disaster Risk Management, Critical Infrastructure, Vulnerable Populations, Children and Youth

#ClimateChance #CCAgadir17 #Cities #EUSEW17 #c40cities #NUA #NAU #CCCRdg #Habitat3 #Humanrights

 

#SendaiFramework #Switch2Sendai #Policy #Governance

#Cities #Safety #Arctic #Maritime

#UCEEP

#HumanRights

#DRRplanning

#REinsurance

#Implementation

#EWS #EarlyWarningSystems

#Hazards

#Federation Disaster Law Programme

#RedCross #Oilspills #ocean #ships #environment

#Disasterlaw #UrbanDisasterLaw

#law #disaster #risk #reduction

 

Wake up to the scent of the Rose blossom #NetUCCEP

Final conclusion over the global agenda from Climate Change Centre Reading (CCCRdg);

– In only thirteen years panic will overtake rational decisions. CCCRdg wish Emmanuel Macron and the new french power Govt the very best laying the last fertile ground to build this new anthropocentric society.

Finally France’s new Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot joined Emmanuel Macron’s team after declining offers from three previous governments. What challenges lie ahead for France’s popular environmentalist?

The environment was not high on the list of Emmanuel Macron’s campaign themes. So when the new French president poached big fish Nicholas Hulot, a popular environmentalist, to head his environment ministry, it was considered a major political coup. Many challenges, however, lie ahead for the feisty, 62-year old former TV host.

“When you read Emmanuel Macron, the new president’s, programme, you don’t see the words ‘ecology’ and ‘sustainable development’” Hulot said only days before he was appointed environment and social transition minister, a portfolio which also includes energy and transport. “He says it himself, that it’s not part of his makeup. I hope it will very, very quickly become part of his DNA.”

‘Herculean task’

Hulot must feel hopeful — he refused offers by three former presidents to join their governments — but he now faces the herculean task of pushing a number of major environmental issues at the head of France’s political agenda.

First on the list is climate change. On May 26th, Hulot and the French president will attend the G7 summit with other world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, who once described climate change as a hoax. Trump is expected to announce at the summit whether or not the United States will remain in the landmark #AccordDeParis signed in the French capital in December 2015.

Hulot advised France’s former president François Hollande on the marathon negotiations involved in the closure of the #ParisAgreement, which was considered one of the few successes of the Socialist president’s five years in office. As many as 195 countries signed the pact to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. Hulot will now have to help meet those targets.

‘The thorny issue of nuclear power’

Another key, and potentially thorny, issue is nuclear power. Following in the previous government’s footsteps, the Macron’s new government has already pledged to reduce the country’s share of nuclear from 75% to 50% by 2025. Hulot, who has been criticised by some Greens as too tolerant, faces the delicate mission of steering France towards this goal.

“There have been many delays since 2012,” the head of World Wildlife Federation France Pascal Canfin told reporters. “The priority now isn’t about whether or not we will reach the 2025 goal anymore. It is about how to put in place a real transition towards renewable energy.”

Complications have already begun. Last week, Hulot announced the nuclear power reactor of Fessenheim, France’s oldest power station, would close after consultation. The plant on the border with Germany is located on a seismic fault line and has worried French, German and Swiss environmentalists for years. But closure of the plant, which employs hundreds of people, has met with fierce opposition (France’s nuclear park as a guarantor of the country’s energy independence and a source of cheap electricity. The commune of Fessenheim and unions have already appealing the closing).

A lynch-pin of France’s CO2 reduction efforts is renovating buildings in order to make them more energy efficient. The previous government set a goal of renovating 500,000 dwellings a year to 2017. That target has not yet been reached, and experts point out that more needs to be done to simplify the processes.

Controversial airport project

Another hot topic on Hulot’s plate is the contentious new Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport, near the western city of Nantes. Debate over whether or not to build the airport has pitted environmentalists and protesters against the government for years. Macron and his Prime Minister Edouard Philippe back the project, which Hulot used to oppose. It was this hot potato that forced Hulot’s decision not to join François Hollande’s government in 2016. Last June, a public vote on the issue was narrowly won by the project’s backers.

Two days after Hulot joined Macron’s cabinet, the government announced that it would appoint a mediator to study the feasibility of the airport project. “There is probably an option which will satisfy all parties,” Nicolas Hulot commented, non-committedly, on French television.

French farmers and players in the French agriculture and the food industry will also be scrutinising the new environment minister on Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promise to create a high-level, multi-party debate on food and agriculture after the summer.

‘A path for action’

Hulot’s appointment was met with approval across the political spectrum and wider afield, and he himself appears to be embracing his new role. “Those who know me know that being a minister as such isn’t a goal in itself. …However, I have the feeling, without being absolutely sure, that this new political environment opens a path for action that I cannot ignore. I hope it will be the last fertile ground to build this anthropocentric society,” Hulot commented after his nomination.

It remains to be seen if the outspoken environmentalist will be comfortable in the constrictions of ministerial office.

“He thinks he will be able to change things all by himself,” former far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon commented. “He thinks that if he has a good idea and that ‘I can defend it properly; everyone will agree with me’, but it doesn’t work like that.”

To which Hulot, who began his television career on an extreme sports nature show, might respond that harsh terrain and uncharted waters is something is he used to.

Environmentalist Nicolas Hulot – Bonne chance!

Source: FRANCE 24 · May 24, 2017

RE: CALL FOR PAPERS – DRR AND INTERNATIONAL LAW SYMPOSIUM REJECTED

Dear All,

Please find below a link to Climate Change Centre Reading´s (CCCRdg) abstract – http://media1.tvb-climatechallenge.org.uk/2017/03/CLIMATE-CHANGE-CENTER-READING-PAPER_DRR-AND-INTERNATIONAL-LAW-SYMPOSIUM.pdf

CCCRdg know “#drr and sustainable urban opportunities”, it is within our expertise area, we find it is important, it is our duty and responsibility to publish our paper abstract to the public. To establish a local private sector law case, providing collaborative commitment to “DISASTER RISK REDUCTION PLAN IN RDG COUNCIL LEGISLATION”

#switch2sendai #MEXICOGP2017 #Localisation #CitiinCiti #Citi2Citi

Also an emergency adaptation DRR – Disaster Risk Reduction and restoration plan for every city needs to be implemented in local legislation #UCEEP – All cities need to draft Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan (#UCEEP) by 2020.

Walker INSTITUTE and University of Reading DRR AND INTERNATIONAL LAW SYMPOSIUM cannot excel cities impact on DRR law without connecting it to the agreed outcome of the Habitat III:s conference on urban settlements, the agreed New Urban Agenda in relation to the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goal 11 and Goal 13.

 

Dear Climate Change Centre Reading,

Regarding Climate Change Centre Reading’s (CCCRdg) paper abstract on the upcoming symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and international law:

“Regrettable your paper; “Aiming for cities ambitious task to take on and implement the Sendai framework on DRR in the New Urban Agenda

(Making a link to the following theme; (2) how DRR related law and policy will/should develop within specific fields of city law), (participation of governmental, intergovernmental, private, NGO/civil society, academic, and media sectors)

has been rejected.

Best wishes”

The preparatory committee DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL LAW SYMPOSIUM
29 June-1 July 2017, University of Reading, UK

 

BACKGROUND

SYMPOSIUM OVERVIEW Please join us at the University of Reading between 29 June and 1 July 2017 for the Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law Symposium organised by the Reading School of Law and the multidisciplinary Walker Institute, co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law (Disaster Law Interest Group). Framed around the principles and objectives underpinning the Sendai Framework on DRR 2015-30, and cognisant of the relevance of other global initiatives including the Sustainable Development Goals 2015 and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, this will be a unique opportunity to discuss, debate, inform and progress the development of law, policy and practice governing DRR and disasters at the national, regional and international levels.

CALL FOR PAPERS Papers are invited which examine one or more of the following research questions, and should be framed around key principles and objectives of the Sendai Framework on DRR:

(1) What ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ law DRR related norms currently exist within international law, whether more generally or within specific legal regimes?

(2) How will/should DRR related law and policy develop within specific fields of law?

(3) What are the current and potential law, policy and/or practice implications of findings in (1) and/or (2), especially in relation to improving the coherence of DRR law at national/regional/ global levels, and associated implementation and enforcement mechanisms? Adopted approaches should include: (a) regional or country-specific case studies; (b) theoretical/ conceptual frameworks; and/or (c) examples of state/non?state actor practice.

Reading, UK 19/03/17

School of Law

University of Reading, UK

#Goal13 City Levels Green, Amber or even Red

#Goal13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

The highly developed industrialized nations’ responsibility to combat climate change is obvious and cannot be overestimated. Similar to the issue of sustainable consumption and production patterns, the rich countries need to become leading examples if the goal of combating climate change and its consequences is not to remain mere lip service. Effectively reducing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions is imperative in this regard. The data displayed in figures 13.1 and 13.2 show how far many OECD countries are still lagging behind compared to the respective benchmark countries of the sample.

13_1

Click on the picture to enlarge

Figure 13.1 provides information on production-based CO2 emissions per capita. “Production-based” means that emissions refer to gross direct CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, emitted within the national territory excluding bunkers, sinks, and indirect effects. In the fi ve leading countries, Mexico, Turkey, Sweden, Portugal, and Hungary, as well as in sixth-ranked Chile, production based CO2 emissions are below 5 tons per capita. These countries’ performances stand in stark contrast to the respective emission levels of countries placed at the bottom of the list, such as Canada, the United States, Australia, and Luxembourg. Here, CO2 emissions range from 15.3 (Canada) to 19.47 tons per capita (Luxembourg).

13_2

Click on the picture to enlarge

The second snapshot indicator links emission levels to the size of a country’s economy, and refers to total greenhouse gas emissions per GDP. Greenhouse gas emissions include land use, land-use change, and forestry, and are measured in CO2 equivalents as a percentage of GDP (tons per million constant 2005 int. USD PPP). The findings are remarkable: While Sweden is by far the top-performing country with an amount of 66.75 tons, Estonia comes in last place with 680 tons – more than ten times as much as in the case of the leading country. Moreover, Sweden is the only country ranked among the top five on both indicators chosen here.

With regard to greenhouse gas emissions per GDP, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, and France follow in places two to five. In fifth-ranked France, however, emissions are already nearly four times as high as in Sweden. At the negative end of the spectrum, Canada and Australia again find themselves in the bottom group. Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions per GDP amount to 641 tons, which means that the country ranks second to last on both indicators of goal 13.

Source: SDG Index and Dashboards – Global Report

Local governments need to draft Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan/Programme (#UCEEP)

Local governments need to draft Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan/Programme (#UCEEP) (.pdf-document for download here)


Dealing with a climate crisis has now gone #planetary — planners and policy makers alert the importance for vulnerable citizens of having an Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan/Programme policy in place for the outcome of the New Urban Agenda, proven realistic in an actual emergency. Urban havocs in the footsteps of climate change require for the first time to mainstream disaster relief planning.

Considering the general policies of the national government a draft UCEEP to complement the 2030 agenda, for urban settlement equipped with detailed evacuation plans for facilitating and handling a climate crisis as seen in every continent on the planet.

? FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT, AN URBAN EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENT IS DEFINED AS ANY ACTUAL CLIMATIC EVENT REQUIRING EVACUATION.

Most urban population living within 30 km of a climate change emergency centre area, and about 10% within 5 km of it. Of the total affected, about 1/3 reside near outside the emergency centre and another 2/3 are within disaster area in the neighbouring urban habitat prefecture. All would have to be evacuated in the event of a disaster, senior citizens (to think through more carefully how to support the evacuation of older people and perhaps include them in future drills, which should be carried out in each district area) and children. The evacuation should be preceded by skilled and realistic capacity building effectiveness drills due to post-evacuation considerations and evaluation.

Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan/Programme first draft
Based on three different urban extreme (increasingly frequent and intense) climatic event scenarios

1.1 – In the first scenario, known as Operational Response Level (ORL) 1, sudden impact disaster detected. In the second scenario, ORL 2, between 36 and 60 warning alerts per hour, with a base level between 12 and 24 warning alerts per hour set for ORL 3.

Catastrophic – urban extreme climatic events of potentially catastrophic proportions that severely disrupt health and social care and other functions (mass casualties, power, water, etc.) and that exceed even collective capability with the support-hub structure. Additionally there are pre-planned major events that require planning, for example, demonstrations, sports fixtures, air shows etc. and may also require a “speedy and effective” climate disaster response. There may also be events occurring on a national scale such as unrest, riots, fuel strikes, pandemic or multiple events that require the collective capability of the healthcare nationally.

CATASTROPHIC IMPACT INCIDENT

First responders, an expandable force will be notified that an urban extreme climatic event has been declared by emergency bleep. Responders would automatically clear routes into cities and establish distribution and medical-hubs (triage centers). Also:

The nature of the Operational Response Level (ORL) 1 Declared may dictate the immediate areas with increased pressures (ie: Hospitals, Government Services, Armed forces). The focus of the Municipality Outreach Team will be to support the rest of the key stakeholders and to assist with critically injured casualties flows where possible.

  • Respond to emergency bleep and high priority calls in the normal way
  • Liaise with the Municipality Outreach Team Manager
  • Liaise with ORL co-ordinator

In addition to loss of life, the emergency plan calculates that as many as 1/10 of the populated emergency centre will require medical attention. Wind, fire and water are estimated to destroy hundreds of structures, with an additional thousands buildings expected to collapse or suffer severe structural damage.

With global disaster relief planning it is possible to estimate and double the additional manpower resources to complete the evacuation civil citizens may also be asked to facilitate movement of casualties from further immediate danger in the disaster district zone to support the first responders. Or to retrieve critically injured from the emergency centre to an area suitable for their comfort and treatment.

Contact members of the Municipality Outreach Team and assess availability over the next 48hrs.

Instant updates and call 24-hour help lines within local authority community website for Emergencies and Public Safety. Information to keep your family, your home and your community safe.

  • Establish emergency contact procedures among friends and family, including checking how to use Disaster Emergency Dial, a disaster voice message board provided by telecommunications company.
  • Stock three days of emergency supplies of food, water, and other daily necessities.
  • Be prepared to evacuate quickly if fires break out.
  • Refrain from moving about outside or driving unless absolutely necessary.
  • Refrain from buying up available stocks of emergency items.

Warning alerts combined with urban calamites alert levels for Storm wind speed, dust level, Rural/Landscape fire smoke plume, flames, Fluvial flooding rain level, Heat wave temperature, dry conditions / nitrogen dioxide level etc.

In ORL 1, evacuation procedures would be put into place immediately of confirming the first shock hazard level. For ORL 2, the time frame is within hours. The plans call for sending more than 1/3 of the emergency centre residents within 5 km to 30 km of the disaster area, towards the nearest preventive evacuation area urban crater, via urban evacuation corridors and tunnels designed for people and multimodal transportation.

Ideally, it would not take 1,000 residents more than 0.5 hours per evacuation corridor to be re-routed to their dedicated preventive urban crater, city arena or support-hub destination (e.g. offices and schools etc).

disaster-support-hubs-sign2

About 2000 UCEEP cities could offer protection and shelter and give post-disaster support to roughly 200,000,000 residents who also live between 5 km and 30 km of the predestined disaster district zone, and would have to be evacuated. Within the urban habitat prefecture, the flow would be directed to an evacuation area urban crater, to a regenerative city arena or to a disaster support-hub, as well as to peri-urban areas outside the emergency centre area and disaster area. Knowledge of how to avoid and safeguard Disaster response routes (helps emergency responders get to people who need help quickly and to ensure that shipments make it to destinations quickly and smoothly), these are not evacuation routes for use by the general public.

“The inclusion of Ministry of defence (MOD) sites is considered necessary to complete the picture, although it is understood there are difficulties in authorising the use of these sites and that their use cannot be guaranteed. However, it is also understood that the incident that causes the requirement for a large scale evacuation may be of such magnitude, that the MOD would be willing to authorise their use. A database of MOD sites and their potential capabilities is held by the Joint Regional Liaison Officer (JRLO).”

Most of the roughly 10% of residents living within 5 km of climate change emergency centre area would be evacuated to neighbouring towns.

1:2 – A key concern local officials have is how the regional government will initially respond to a sudden impact disaster. The plan for dispatching the first responders and relief goods from the provincial capital calls for Air Self-Defense Force transport planes at dedicated Air Base to fly to nearest local open Air Base in the local habitat Prefecture (a one-hour flight), where their cargo will be transferred to helicopters and ferried over the disaster area to the emergency centre, 30 minutes away.

Yet all the detailed plans are all based on the assumption that the roads leading out of the emergency centre — which perhaps lies in a remote area on the Sea — to the disaster district zones in other parts of the evacuation centre, as well as to neighbouring urban habitat, will not have been damaged; that there will not be mass panic that clogs/paralyse the roads; and that there will be enough time for residents within 30 km of the plant to get to safety; that people won’t be stranded throughout the region also Keeping Level Heads.

Facility Explosion Risk (FER)

Long term evacuation happens if the climatic event has triggered an earthquake or other natural disaster that has destroyed the roads. Or, what happens if an accident occurs in the midst of a blizzard, where icy roads and hazardous driving conditions can lead to accidents that block or paralyse the roads and create long traffic jams?

The Cabinet Office’s plans state that, in the event of a severe natural disaster that makes fleeing by road impossible, and residents will be evacuated by sea from the neighbouring port, which has a Maritime Self-Defense Force base (Although several Prefecture plans to use ships for evacuation, it’s not clear that all harbours will be safe or operable). Helicopters will land at about a dozen designated areas along the main roads in the emergency centre and in the disaster area that lie within the 30-km evacuation radius.

Short term evacuation take place in major cities equipped with up to six preventive evacuation area urban craters, holding stock enough to protect its evacuees for one month. Before it’s safe enough for the inhabitants and residents of emergency centre and disaster area to return to their habitat. Relief supply will include meals, blankets, infant formula, disposable diapers and extra supply of drinking water.

1:3 – It is the central government’s duty to take responsibility in the event of an urban climatic emergency in order to protect the lives of people and their property

For some local politicians outside local community, the evacuation plans represent a challenge and an opportunity. For small towns mayors meet with regional ministers of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry asking the provincial capital to provide funding in next year’s fiscal budget for improving roads etc.

Hard copy Action Cards are necessary for the municipality due to its size and particularly where temporary staff change fairly frequently. It is not possible for every person employed in the council to know and be completely familiar with the Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan/Programme in its entirety. Each part in the Urban Climatic Emergency Evacuation Plan/Programme is therefore described on action cards that can be easily obtained and read. These cards are stored within relevant departments in the municipality, which will ensure that the support-hub and evacuation area urban crater of activity during a catastrophic event can respond.
Action cards have been prepared for staff to follow during an urban extreme climatic event. The action cards contain the individual’s responsibilities in performing that role, a checklist of tasks and titles and locations of key contacts. Other members of staff likely to be involved will also work to action cards.

There are a lot of issues in regards to infrastructure for areas of evacuation (inclusive urban vertical evacuation aids) and safeguarding of evacuation routes, pointing out that funding for road improvements had yet to be guaranteed.

#ClimateAction #UNEA2 #NewUrbanGovernance #Cities4Climate #FortMacFire #yeg #ymmfire #NAZCAportal #climatechance #Listen2Cities #SB44 #APA1 #Bonn #COP22 #G7EMM #C40Awards #AOSIS #GUANXI

 

Habitat III Consultations Prioritize Actions for New Urban Agenda

Habitat III Consultations Prioritize Actions for New Urban Agenda

hiii3 May 2016: UN Member States, international organizations and stakeholders held a week-long session of Open-Ended Informal Consultative Meetings in preparation for the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III). The Meeting aimed to advance discusssions on the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III, and to prioritize actions and identify transformative commitments to move towards sustainable cities.

The Meetings convened at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 25-29 April 2016.

Habitat III Secretary-General Joan Clos said the New Urban Agenda should complement recent “landmark” UN processes, including:

  • the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015-2030
  • the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development (FfD)
  • the Paris Agreement on climate change
  • the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable).

The meeting was organized around: regional perspectives; transformative commitments for sustainable urban development; effective implementation; and how to enhance means of implementation (MOI). Panel discussions examined recommendations and outputs of the ten Habitat III Policy Units, which focus on: the right to the city and cities for all; socio-cultural urban framework; national urban policies; urban governance, capacity and institutional development; municipal finance and local fiscal systems; urban spatial strategies – land market and segregation; urban economic development strategies; urban ecology and resilience; urban services and technology; and housing policies.

Panels took place on the outcomes of the seven Habitat III thematic meetings that have taken place as part of the preparatory process, which focused on: civic engagement; metropolitan areas; intermediate cities; sustainable energy and cities; financing urban development; public spaces; and informal settlements. Another session reviewed the outcomes of the Habitat III regional meeting.

In the closing session, Clos stressed the importance of urbanization for sustainable development, noting that the understanding of development has changed, as well as that of the role of urbanization in promoting prosperity. Meeting Co-Chair Maryse Gautier, France, welcomed the engagement of all stakeholders and summarized key messages from the week, including that: the resource management system is necessary; urban development must take into account the protection and maintenance of cultural heritage to ensure inclusive cities; informal sectors must be taken into account during spatial planning; and finance must be further mobilized.

Earlier in the month, the final regional meeting for Habitat III took place in Toluca, Mexico, from 18-20 April 2016, with a focus on priority issues for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The meeting resulted in the Toluca Declaration, which will serve as input to the New Urban Agenda. The Toluca Declaration proposes that the following issues be addressed in the New Urban Agenda: urban and territorial planning; urban governance; adequate housing; water and sanitation; sustainable mobility; land management; and environment, climate change and resilience.

The New Urban Governance

The Declaration calls for a new generation of national urban policies built on a new urbanization paradigm that promotes accessibility, adequate housing, equity, security, mobility and cultural identity. It further identifies elements for implementation of the New Urban Agenda at the national and local levels, including: developing innovative models of multi-level governance; promoting institutional solidity, professionalism, transparency and accountability in urban management; establishing spaces for citizens to participate in urban development; promoting sub-national financing mechanisms; and using information technology and communications in public decision making.

 

Source: iisd

 

#PragueDeclaration

“Cities are responsible for 70% of #GHG emissions”~Mr Joan Clos

Relevant stakeholders come together in generous ‘Praha’ to participate in the European Habitat Conference within the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations, bringing together 56 member countries from across Europe, the Balkans, North America and a part of Asia “the Global North”. The focus of the conference was to debate urban  solutions to the issues of housing estates and the need for municipal integration.
In the process towards a #NewUrbanAgenda, Habitat III Europe Regional Meeting “European Habitat” discussed how to ensure access to decent, adequate, affordable and healthy housing for all, with due attention to reducing the impact of the housing sector on the environment.

It addresses relevant current problems like urban poverty, demographic changes, climatic changes and risk of disasters, urban development and urban sprawl, coordination of urban development, and relevant use of technologies.

The most significant event of global reach to be held this year in Prague has ended with the approval of the Prague Declaration.
Minister Karla Šlechtová~..“We have to turn housing estates into a good place to live: providing adequate quality housing, but also public space for community life, access to services, entertainment, leisure activities and sports. All this will have a direct impact on the safety and other factors affecting the quality of life,” 

  • Integration of municipalities is the path to prosperity and healthy development of micro-regions
    Resource efficiency and promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns are critical elements for cities to manage growth, increase resource productivity, and decouple economic growth from increased resource use and its environmental impact.
  • Good urban governance
    Promoting national urban policies as appropriate, which are conducive to sustainable urban development and foster territorial cohesion and their translation to localised urban legislation and regulations, respecting, where appropriate, the principle of subsidiarity;

    Strengthening the use of spatial planning and design of urban extensions, infill and regeneration ensuring a bottom-up and multilevel governance as well as integrated approaches involving all stakeholders and the inhabitants; Cooperative mechanisms of spatial planning and steering in metropolitan areas beyond administrative boundaries should be strengthened and supported by integrated spatial strategies to ensure a balanced territorial development;

  • Relevant use of technology
    Progress in technologies and the availability of data are rapidly changing our life and the way we organise it. Urban planners should adopt relevant technological innovations, which allow more effective use of available data. This requires educating and building the capacity of urban managers, decision-makers and inhabitants. Open and disaggregated data is a critical component in transparent and effective governance and also in the provision of efficient environmental and energy services in urban settings. Every effort must be made to keep shared data accessible to the public, while protecting the privacy of individuals. Cities should consider simple, interoperable, and comparable data markers and standards for data collection. Data should also be transparent and openly accessible to be exploited as a tool to increase the ownership and engagement of people. Technological and digital divide in urban planning and management has to be addressed.

    Building accountability and regular monitoring of the coherent implementation of the New Urban Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals with a special focus on goal 11 (Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) and other targets across the Agenda, using the relevant indicators defined. This should include 7 regionally specific agreements and strategies on data collection and analyses. Data should be gathered using common international standards to ensure it is compatible between Member States. It should, as much as possible, be publicly available to support policy-making, research and economic development. Lastly, global and regional data repositories should be further developed to support the policy-making process;

Three vital outcomes from the Prague Declaration are outlined below:

I. Shelter and Protection
Urban growth and development boundaries conclusions and inclusion and resilience in the #NewUrbanAgenda based on three years project with placemaking and climate change coverage. Why?  The youth is our future and their need for protective shelter in a changing climate, first and foremost. This requires multidisciplinary climate action across multilevel jurisdictional boundaries…

“We recall the outcomes of “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030”, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” which provides a focus on cities through Goal 11 and other targets across the whole agenda as well as the “Paris Agreement”.”

“We acknowledge also regional specific agreed charters and strategies like, among others, “The Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing” and the “Strategy for Sustainable Housing and Land Management in the ECE region for the period 2014-2020”.

II. Readiness for “shelter” in urban and rural open spaces
To fight climate change and avoid more loss of land The New Urban Agenda need to define and protect our greenbelts in order to keep our cities rural fringe green, compact and resilient. Also to ensure that urban dwellers have access to countryside, with consequent educational and recreational opportunities; and to protect the unique character of rural communities that might otherwise be absorbed by expanding suburbs. Stress that: Sustainable and integrated urban development and its management are crucial to the safety and quality of life of our people.

“Green, compact, resource efficient and resilient cities. Green and better integrated with nature, inclusive, liveable, compact and resilient cities are a priority in policies at all levels of the government and in regional cooperation, especially with regard to members of vulnerable groups, marginalized communities and people with special needs. 2 Increasing resource efficiency on energy, water, waste, land use and food as well as mitigating greenhouse gases emission, improving air quality and taking care of wastewater in cities together with making cities resilient to climate change and other challenges, such as to flood, drought, heat waves, natural and man-made hazards, as well as ensuring transition towards safe and sustainable urban mobility, clean and accessible urban transport for all;”

“Urbanizing deltas in this respect are facing extreme and specific tensions because of the combination of socio-economic and natural/ environmental dynamics. We encourage the use of green and blue infrastructures as well as nature-based solutions, in addition to hard preventive infrastructure and spatial planning, as a tool to prevent disasters, in particular water-related ones, from having a big impact;”

III. Sustainable public spaces that are healthy, safe, resilient, energy-conserving and resource efficient
Public space and the buildings that surround and define it need to be socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Social sustainability requires security, equity and justice; economic sustainability benefits from affordable capital and operating budgets; environmental sustainability addresses ecological and health issues. These include clean air, water and soil, green micro-climates and the mitigation and adaptation to the Urban Heat Island Effect and Climate Change. Effective use should be made of green technologies and systems. Architecture and urban design that is adaptable and appreciated is cared for and sustained for a longer time.

Promote the knowledge transfer of good practices regarding the quality of green and public spaces, e.g. in devising layouts, ratios, spaces and built-open space and frontage ratios capable of reconciling socio-economic vitality and environmental quality with safety and pleasantness.

“Providing accessible, safe, inclusive and quality public space, and safe transportation to foster urban equity, social cohesion and better quality of life, with particular attention to the needs of men, women, children, elderly persons and persons with disabilities;”

“In order to prevent urban sprawl and strengthen the “multiple use of space” principle through effective land management. We also support climate change adaptation and mitigation measures and cities’ resilience to floods, heat waves and natural and man-made hazards.

(“The Social Cohesion and Equity discussions highlighted several practical approaches that can help make cities become more inclusive. These include better urban planning in the creation of public spaces where residents of the urban community not only feel safe but also protected.”)
The Final “Prague Declaration” from “European Habitat” can be found here;
#RegenerativeCities #Greenbelt #Placemaking #DRR #FutureofPlaces #COP22 #Habitat3 #NewUrbanAgenda #PublicSpace #WUC #TheFutureWeWant #TheCityWeNeed #UrbanSDG #UrbanAction #UrbanThinkers #Youngplacemakers #ClimateAction

Some ideas to take away that Minister Karla Šlechtová collected in the UN European Habitat conference in Prague

  • Cities have to be sustainable, without excluded zones; account must be taken of their residents.
  • Development requires a clear strategy tied to a defined vision.
  • Accessibility in all its aspects: accessibility of housing, public services, travel, and culture.
  • Only those with daring visions can turn cities into good places for living.
  • Only good housing can make a place good for living; whereas urban housing means not only a “shelter”, but a healthy and safe home.
  • “Cities are made of people, not brick walls”~Thucydides
  • Liveable and functioning cities without excluded zones. I want no derelict and evacuated city centres.
  • In the Czech Republic and many nations, one of the developmental obstacles is frequently fragmented competences. This is an aspect that has to be addressed and changed.
  • Urban planning and design must be centred around living in the cities.

The Czech Republic greatly managed the UN summit on sustainable housing development

The Czech Republic greatly managed the #EuropeanHabitat
16-18 March 2016: Three days of urban discussions in Prague with almost 4,000 experts worldwide on the future development of cities and municipalities. The UN Habitat Conference, organized by the Ministry for Regional Development, headed by the Minister Karla Šlechtová ended on Friday, 18 March 2016 with approval for the #PragueDeclaration. The document will have a direct impact on UN policy in the field of sustainable development and be part of the roadmap leading up to Habitat III in Quito. The Czech Republic and organisers have not only mastered the difficult preparation and organisation of the conference, but they also carry away a few key messages for further work and development in the area.

In line with what Minister Ms. Karla Šlechtová already mentioned in her opening speech on the first day, both the Conference and the #PragueDeclaration were not to be just about discussing, they were to bring a factual content and specific outcomes with an effective meaning for the future. Theses the Prague Declaration:

  • The Declaration is based on four principles: Innovative and productive cities, Green, compact, resource-efficient and versatile (resilient) cities, Inclusive and safe cities, Good urban governance.
  • Emphasis is put primarily on support to proper planning and management to be conducted in cooperation with all levels of governance and communities; a unified approach is vital in the effort to maximise the potential of cities, social cohesion and access to services; affordability of housing as a key factor of quality of life is one of the main features of viable cities; urban development planning must involve the effort to minimise impacts on the environment and to enhance economic, social and environmental sustainability.
  • We are facing various challenges relating to housing and sustainable urban development in the regions: urban poverty, demographic changes, #climate changes and based on science disaster risk reduction #DRR, urban development and mandated growth, coordination of urban development, use of relevant technologies.
  • Key directions from Prague to Quito: supporting cities by strengthening their capacity for innovation including social innovations and job creation, supporting optimal use of resources, equal access to affordable housing and services, eliminating poverty and exclusion, providing affordable, safe, inclusive and high-quality public space and safe transport, healthy financial management in municipalities, ensuring sustainable sources of financing, reinforcing the dialogue between various levels of government and relevant actors.

European HABITAT in Prague on 16 – 18. 3. 2016 (summary)

Some facts about the UN Conference on the European Habitat

  • It was attended by nearly 4,000 thousand experts from around the world.
  • During the Conference a total of 96 separate official events and dozens of bilateral negotiations were conducted.
  • In total there were more than 300 hours of expert discussions.
  • More than 50 experts took the floor.
  • Significantly the conference also involved the Czech representatives, in the main program and accompanying activities.
  • The main outcome of the Conference is the Prague Declaration, the final version of which has been worked on by the international Advisory Board and with the participation of Minister of Regional Development Ms. Karla Šlechtová.
  • The Conference was held on an area of more than 42,000 sq-m2 in the Prague Congress Centre.
  • In addition to the PCC, more places in Prague hosted the Conference accompanying activities.
  • An organisation team of more than 150 people looked after the organisation of the Conference.
  • More than 11,000 meters of cabling where installed in the Prague Congress Centre in order to provide technical setting to the Conference.
  • About 100 model works created by students were exposed in the Congress Centre – many of them 3D models of planned buildings.