Speech of
The Hon. Devanand Virahsawmy, GOSK, FCCA
Minister of
Environment & Sustainable Development
on the occasion of the
Capacity Building and Validation Workshop
Development of an Inundation, Flooding and
Landslide National Risk Profile, Maps,
Strategy Framework and Action Plans for
Disaster Risk Management for
The Republic of Mauritius
on
Wednesday 22 August 2012 at 09.30 Hrs
Swami Vivekananda International Conference Centre
Mr Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident
Representative in Mauritius
Mr P. Jhugroo, Permanent Secretary of my Ministry
Mrs Ng, Director of Environment
Dr Jaroslav Mysiak, Team Leader, Studio Galli Ingegneria from Italy and
Associates
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am pleased to be in your midst today for the opening of this Capacity Building
and Validation Workshop relating to Climate Change and Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management (in short the DRR project under the Africa
Adaptation Programme).
As you may be aware, the DRR project is an important component of the Africa
Adaptation Programme on climate change which is being implemented by the
Government of Mauritius. I was here in March this year for the launching of
the Inception Workshop and today I am honoured to be here again for the final
workshop, which means that work has progressed and the project is on target.
Allow me, at the outset, on behalf of the Government of Mauritius to convey
my heartful thanks to the Government of Japan for providing us with the
necessary financial support in helping our country to build resilience against the
impacts of climate change and disaster risks.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today, it is sad to note that climate change impacts are worsening worldwide
and this trend is most likely to continue for the coming decades. More so,
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climate change and climate related disasters are interdependent.
Latest
scientific reports released by international organizations clearly indicate that the
world is heading towards an unprecedented climate crisis. According to latest
reports, the vast ice sheet of Greenland which holds enough water to raise
global sea levels by 7.2 metres has undergone a remarkable transformation.
Scientists at the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) were amazed to discover that on 11 and 12 July 2012, surface melting
had extended across 97 percent of the ice sheet, which they consider to be the
most widespread melting they have witnessed.
The observation came just
weeks after a huge iceberg broke away from a glacier in Northern Greenland.
The increased frequency of climatic events around the world and the soaring
number of casualties in least developed countries and small island developing
countries also confirm that we are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change:

According to the 2009 bulletin of the World Meteorological Organization,
over the period 1991-2005, 3.4 Million people were affected by disasters,
out of which 960,000 people died whilst economic losses were estimated at
1,193 billion US dollars.

On 7 August 2012, heavy rainfall and flooding affected 2.4 Million people
in 31 cities and 16 provinces in the central Philippines.

Two days later, nearly 2.17 million residents of the Anhui Province in
China were affected by an intense typhoon which also resulted in the
destruction of 2,400 houses.
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Intrinsic vulnerabilities to hazards and low capacities for risk reduction
measures affect poor countries disproportionately. For example, hurricane Ivan
which hit Grenada in 2004 resulted in losses amounting to some 919 million US
dollars representing 2.5 times its Gross Domestic Product. It is expected that
small islands in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and the Pacific will suffer
heavy reduction in water resources by the middle of this century.
The
inhabitants of Small Island Developing States such as Maldives, Tuvalu and the
Republic of Kiribati may also need to abandon their homes because of rising sea
level and fierce storms.
It has been observed that natural hazards by themselves may not necessarily
cause disasters; it is the combination of an exposed, vulnerable and ill-prepared
population or community with a hazard event that results in a disaster.
Therefore, there is a pressing need for vulnerable economies to fully engage in
disaster risk reduction and management. It is also imperative that people are
made aware of the risks of natural hazards and also on how they can reduce
their vulnerability. During the fifteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group
on Long-term Cooperative Action under the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change in May 2012, the AOSIS, Least Developed Countries, Africa
Group and the Group 77 and China emphasized on the urgency for actions, the
need to raise ambition for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by developed
countries and also to work on a mechanism for loss and damage on the impacts
of both slow onset and extreme events.
At the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Kobe, Japan, in 2005,
the link between climate change and disaster risk reduction was established.
Attention was drawn on the need to strengthen preventive measures to reduce
loss of human lives and loss of the economic and environmental assets of
countries.
The Hyogo Framework for Action: 2005-2015 which aims at
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building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, was thus
adopted by 168 countries as the key global strategy to implement disaster risk
reduction.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The stark reality is that no country is going to be spared by the impacts of
climate change.
According to Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the Chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the majority of deaths are
occurring in poorer and less developed places combined with the fact that richer
countries are generating more greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels.
Mauritius, like other countries is equally vulnerable to the effects of climate
change. The tragic flash flood events which occurred in March 2008, the
decrease in the amount of annual rainfall, the high temperatures recorded over
Mauritius in recent years, the sea level rise by 3.6 mm/yr over the last five years
and the increase in the frequency of heavy rainfall are but a few examples to
illustrate the climate-related disasters that have occurred in Mauritius.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I mentioned at the opening of the Inception Workshop, the DRR project is
the first of its kind being undertaken in our country. Through this project, we
have tried to prove our efforts by working on the basis of various climate
scenarios, to make our Island more resilient to the threats of natural disasters
such as flood, landslide and coastal inundation. In the light of the studies
carried out so far and the findings available, I am going to highlight some of the
possible benefits that have been harnessed from the DRR project:
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First, it has been able to determine the zones which are likely to be affected by
flooding, sea level rise and landslide. Accordingly, we can come up with
proactive measures in terms of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
Second, the GIS maps that have been developed could be well integrated in the
National Outline Schemes and these maps will provide valuable insight to our
planners in designing sound urban and rural land use planning.
Third, through the coastal inundation vulnerability assessment, we will now be
in a better position to render development on coastal zones more resilient to sea
level rise.
Fourth, the formulation of a Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy and Action Plan
is in line with the objectives of the Hyogo Framework for Action and this
constitutes a vital tool to the Cyclone and other Natural Disasters Committee for
managing disasters.
This Strategy and Action Plan recognizes the critical
importance of all stages of disaster risk management, including prevention and
protection, preparedness, response, and recovery.
During this workshop, it is intended to provide to all stakeholders with hands on
training on the different outputs of the DRR project. The project includes
identification and assessment of risk profiling and mapping, and risk and hazard
management as part of the Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy and Action Plan. It
is also intended to validate the final deliverables of the project.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The different actions and activities undertaken by my Ministry to make
Mauritius resilient to climate change go far beyond the Disaster Risk Reduction
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component.
In fact, they fit much more into a broader framework of
sustainability. Let me briefly refer to a few of the actions being taken by my
Ministry.
First and foremost, there is the Maurice Ile Durable initiative which was
launched by the Hon. Prime Minister, the prime objective of which is to make
Mauritius a world model of sustainable development, particularly in the context
of Small Island Developing States.
In the same spirit, my Ministry is
implementing the National Programme on Sustainable Consumption and
Production for the formulation of sustainable patterns of consumption all across
the economy.
Regarding the Eco-Village programme which will target nine villages in the
first phase, works have already started at Panchavati, with the setting up of an
endemic garden and an information centre. Works are expected to start shortly
at Pointe aux Piments.
A team from the Japan International Cooperation Agency is presently in
Mauritius for the implementation of coastal protection measures to mitigate
coastal erosion in most of the beaches across the country. This will be a 5-year
programme.
My Ministry has started last month the implementation of the project on
“Climate Change Adaptation Programme in the Coastal Zone of Mauritius”
which is being funded by the Adaptation Fund Board. Through this project,
climate related disasters at three vulnerable coastal sites, namely at Mon Choisy,
Rivière des Galets and Quatre Soeurs/Deux Frères will be addressed.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
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Disaster risk reduction is slowly but surely building up global momentum. As I
mentioned earlier, Mauritius is highly vulnerable. We need therefore to work
together so as to devise ways and means to mitigate the impacts of disasters,
ensure sustainable development and save the lives of our citizens. Continuous
collaboration of all stakeholders is required to build resilience to climate related
disasters.
To conclude, I express the wish that all participants come to a consensus on the
Strategy and Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management as
recommended by the Consultants. For this, I wish you all fruitful deliberations.
I now have the pleasure to declare this workshop open.
Thank you for your attention.
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