Protect the Environment and Prevent Natural Disasters

October 13 is International Day for Disaster Reduction, an opportunity for the international community to focus their attention on disaster prevention and how to deal with the consequences. Protecting the environment is an essential measure, given that climate change has increased the number of natural disasters.

In 1989, the General Assembly of the United Nations announced the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, beginning on January 1, 1990 and, along with this, an agreement outlining measures to work on in this area. When the Decade ended in 1999, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) was adopted, which continues in force today.

” The purpose of the ISDR is to unite international efforts with direct actions to avoid the effects of natural disasters.

The ISDR is especially focused on developing countries to lessen the loss of life as well as social and economic distress caused by disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods, among others.

Protect the Environment and Prevent Natural Disasters

The principal international objectives in this area are:

• Improve the capacity of each country to lessen the effects of natural disasters by applying early warning systems.
• Promote scientific and technical knowledge to reduce human and material losses.
• Offer countries technical assistance that works based on prevention, evaluation and diagnostic protocols to lessen natural disasters.
• Provide technology to affected regions and encourage educational and training projects.

Environmental conservation has special relevance in avoiding natural disasters. It has been proven that climate change and global warming contribute to the increase in meteorological imbalances and, along with this, natural disasters. Regarding this point, the involvement of businesses in environmental conservation is one of the keys to prevention.

The latest international agreement on the road to natural disaster reduction is the Hyogo Framework for Action. Signed in Japan in 2005, in this agreement 168 countries commit to introducing risk prevention and evaluation measures into public policies, as well as protocols for action before, during and after natural disasters. Finally, there is a series of principals aligned with the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction that the international community commits to respecting to promote the safety of all people.

Cristina Cabrera,
Abengoa Communication Department.