World Summit on Sustainable Development Department of Public Information - News and Media Services Division - New York
	Johannesburg, South Africa 26 August-4 September 2002	28 August 2002

PRESS CONFERENCE BY WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION   A dollar invested to prevent natural disasters could save 10 to 100 more in reconstruction after they occurred, Michel Jarraud, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, told correspondents today at the a Summit press conference. Some 75 per cent of disasters were water-linked, such as floods and droughts, costing several billion dollars per year, said Mr. Jarraud, who was briefing correspondents on vulnerability to such natural hazards as El Niño, floods and drought. In addition, the number of victims of those catastrophes had reached 600,000 over the past 10 years. Asked about ways to prevent natural disasters, Mr. Jarraud said that several natural disasters were unavoidable, such as tropical cyclones. But science could give warnings so that governments could evacuate people in the cyclone's path, advise them to take shelter or safeguard their possessions, which could minimize material damage and loss of life. Helena Molin-Valdes, Senior Officer, Policy Issues, United Nations Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, added that droughts and floods were mainly understood as natural phenomenon, but that was not always the case. Environmental mismanagement and population concentration, which occurred when people created their own environments, could increase the severity of floods and droughts. Asked about the relationship between climate change and the Johannesburg Summit, Mr. Jarraud said that natural disasters could cause gross national product to drop in some countries, setting the development clock of back by five to 10 years. Prevention and warning of natural disasters was an important component of sustainable development for such countries. In terms of long-term disaster management, he noted that one country in Latin America had been very much affected by the last El Niño. The government had convinced farmers to switch from a crop for normal weather to one that would grow better in wetter conditions. Farming production had actually stayed constant and money that would have been used to buy emergency food could be used to develop the country. Ms. Molin-Valdes added that vulnerability to disasters was similar to other development hazards, such as poverty, ecological management and exposure to catastrophes. Many proposals that had been made at the Summit for integrated watershed management would reduce vulnerability to floods. Asked to what extent the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Strategy for Disaster Reduction had provided advance notice of the drought in South Africa, Mr. Jarraud said that enormous progress had been made in seasonal forecasting, and South Africa had been warned six months in advance. The WMO organized Climate Outlook Forums with various partners, and the outcomes were provided to all national meteorological services, including those in South Africa. Another correspondent asked whether people should be discouraged from building near rivers or coastlines. Ms Molin-Valdes said that would be wise, but noted that space had dwindled with population growth, making it impossible to completely avoid those areas. However, risk should be decreased through better construction, drainage, education about natural disasters and warning systems. She added that in some small islands of the Pacific, governments were taking precautionary actions with respect to the rise of the sea level, such as deciding where the population could be moved if coastlines were affected in the next 5 to 10 years.   Press Conferences Summit News