Toespraak eurocommissaris Georgieva over samenwerking China en EU inzake rampenbestrijding (en)

Dear Excellencies,

It is a pleasure to be back in Beijing and to address such an honourable audience, in such a prestigious setting. I have been privileged to work with China on environmental management over many years during my career at the World Bank. I am delighted that I can continue this collaboration from my current position - this time focusing on how Europe and China can learn from each other to manage the risks of more frequent and more devastating disasters, and cooperate when a disaster strikes with overwhelming force at home or elsewhere on our planet.

The importance of global solidarity in the face of more devastating disasters was pressed upon me in the very first days I became European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. In early 2010, just two weeks on the job, I went to Haiti to ensure that a very substantial European assistance - humanitarian aid and in-kind assistance from the civil protection of our Member States - was well- targeted and coordinated within a UN-led effort.

And there I was impressed to learn about China's immediate action and effective presence. The Chinese emergency rescue team, made up of 60 members, was among the first to reach Haiti, despite the fact that they came from the furthest away and despite the absence of diplomatic relations between the two nations. This team did not come empty- handed. They immediately set up a medical assistance station and a Chinese jumbo plane brought about 90 tons of materials, including 1,000 tents, water, food, emergency lights, medicines, clothing and water purification equipment. The aid was the first batch of a 30-million-yuan (4.41-million-dollar) relief package prepared within 24 hours after the government decided, immediately after the earthquake, to provide emergency aid for Haiti

I also learned that China lost people in the earthquake. Seven Chinese policemen and a Chinese policewoman died while serving in the UN Peace-keeping mission deployed in Haiti. Allow me to pay a tribute to these men and this woman and to all those who are far from their loved ones to serve for peace under the UN flag.

China mourned this loss but it wasn't the main driver of its prompt action. The Chinese people shared the feelings of the Haitians because memories of the magnitude-8.0 quake that hit Wenchuan, Sichuan province, in 2008 were still fresh. Quotes from Chinese people at the time of the Haiti quake demonstrated their feelings: “After that quake, China received assistance from across the world. This time, China, still feeling grateful, extends its helping hand to the Haitians.” "Because of Wenchuan, Haiti is not far away from us". This is what solidarity is about: 14,000 kms represent nothing when one understands the trauma and wants to help.

Solidarity is something we will need more and more. After Haiti I have travelled to many more places where earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, droughts, volcanoes and mudslides overwhelm local communities and even national capacities and where rapid international response saves lives and reduces suffering and damages.

Since 1975, the number of recorded disasters has risen five-fold - yes, five times more disasters now than in 1975. The vast majority of their victims are in densely- populated Asia, but no continent or country is out of their reach. In Europe over the last 10 years we lost 100,000 lives, and it has cost our economies 150 billion Euros.

As the recent IPCC report on extreme weather has shown, climate change leads to increases in weather-related disasters - floods, droughts, heat waves, storms. Population growth, urbanization, industrial development all contribute to increases in the impact of disasters - when they hit, more people suffer and there is more damage.

Before 1988 there had never been a single disaster event for which the insurance industry had to pay out over $1 billion in claims. Since then there have been over 20 such events. Last year, 2011, holds the record in terms of assessed damage costs - nearly $400 billion, 50 % higher that the previous record set only 6 years ago, in 2005. And we know that the real costs are much higher since most losses are not insured and often not counted.

While economic development contributes to more resilience, it also leads to higher losses. Take the cases of Haiti and Chile - in Haiti a 7.2 earthquake killed more than 230,000 people, in Chile an 8.9 earthquake and the tsunami it caused took the lives of 521 people. At the same time the economic losses in Chile were in the order of $30 billion while in Haiti they were around $8 billion. This is why it is paramount to advance our understanding of the risks of disasters and, as our economies grow, invest in more resilient communities and societies.

This investment is critical for all of us, and especially important for China. Like the rest of Asia, China is disaster-prone, and this is combined with large population, rapid urbanization, phenomenal industrialization and economic growth. Over the last 30 years China grew by 300 million people, moved around 30 % of its population from the countryside to the cities, and increased its GDP cumulatively in nominal terms by 1600%.

In Europe, we have had more time to understand what comes with urbanisation, industrialisation, and also climate change. But more wealth means more vulnerability, as economic costs are more important when disasters strike. So we have developed policies to cope with the risks and negative impacts that accompany progress. This is why I am keen to see more interactions between Europe and China in the area of disaster preparedness, prevention and response - to offer our experience, and to learn from fast-developing China.

Over the years the European countries and the European Union have developed substantial experience in setting up standards for disaster risk reduction, developing early-warning systems, designing and implementing disaster -prevention measures, and improving the disaster- response systems. Many of the lessons learned in Europe, from developing earthquake-resilient building codes to flood- management measures, are also of interest to China.

The main point I would like to leave with you today is that cooperation in disaster preparedness, prevention and response is fundamental for our prosperity, our security, our future. In Europe it is one of the topics that unites our citizens, despite the difficulties we currently experience due to the financial crisis and divergence in views on many other matters. Nine out of ten Europeans believe we should cooperate in the face of disasters, and help each other when they occur.

So let me elaborate on this topic of cooperation for a more resilient world by highlighting, first, the cooperation in disaster preparedness, prevention and response in Europe and how we intend to develop it further, and, second, the opportunities of further developing our partnership with China.

Let me start with cooperation at home.

In Europe, the primary responsibility for disaster prevention, preparedness and response lies with local and national authorities. The vast majority of disasters are local, and the skills and capabilities to fight them must be also available and deployed locally. This places operational command clearly in the hands of the appropriate authorities in our Member States. But there are also a number of ways in which cooperation at the EU i level makes a real difference.

First, when a disaster overwhelms the local capacity to respond vital additional assets and expertise must be deployed. By working together, in a coordinated way, we deliver a more effective European response.

You have all heard about Greece’s problems. But perhaps you have not heard that last year, when Cyprus was hit by a huge warehouse explosion that damaged their main power plant just at the start of the tourist season, many European States provided assistance, and among them Greece was the most generous, delivering much needed generators to restore Cyprus' electrical power.

Second, joint efforts are cost-effective. For example, after the triple disaster in Japan we delivered 7 cargo planes with European in-kind assistance. Coordinated delivery brought down transportation costs, avoided duplications and ensured minimal pressure on the overwhelmed Japanese authorities.

Third, joint training and learning from experience helps strengthen Member States own national systems. For example, floods are the costliest hazard in Europe and one that knows no boundaries. In 2009 Netherlands, which has gathered incredible know-how in flood-related disasters thanks to its history, hosted Floodex, an EU-wide and EU-funded exercise. This was very timely as 2010 saw severe floods in Europe, with Poland hit particularly badly. Well-prepared teams were able to deploy rapidly in Poland, and later on in Romania, reducing the risks for loss of lives and substantial property damage. Similar exercises are carried out for all types of hazards - forest fires, chemical, biological and nuclear accidents, earthquakes, storms, oil spills and others.

To build up coordination and cooperation in Europe, 10 years ago we created the Civil Protection Mechanism, bringing together the strengths of the national civil protection systems. Today it includes 32 members, the 27 EU Member States, plus Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Norway, Lichtenstein, and Iceland, and has been activated over 160 times in response to calls for international assistance, like the ones in Haiti, Cyprus, Poland, Romania, and Japan.

The Mechanism has served Europe well. Yet, as disasters are on the increase, and public finances are unlikely to expand as fast in the coming years, we are taking steps to strengthen our level of preparedness and response.

A new European legislation is being developed to achieve stronger focus on preparedness and prevention, further advancement of coordination in deployment and more cost-effective operations when assisting Member States or third countries. It will advance work on risk- mapping and on reference scenarios for the main types of disasters and support increased investment in joint training and in cross- border exercises.

The new legislation will provide more predictability about assets that Member States can provide for action both in and outside the EU. When compared against the scenarios, this will help us identify gaps in capacity as well as overlaps. It will also support more coordination on logistics and make sure that transportation arrangements are in place for the immediate deployment of EU assistance.

Ultimately, the goal of the new legislation is to make best use of the strengths of the EU national and local civil protection capacity by making the whole bigger than the sum of its individual parts. This is also at the heart of our disaster risk- management project with China. It is based on the contributions from our Member States, those who are already present in the institute for disaster management as well as others, that are likely to contribute in the future.

I am therefore proud to launch this disaster risk- management project, which will establish a long-term and effective EU-China platform facilitating cooperation. We are looking at exchanging experience at the strategic level, by reducing disaster risks through long-term, holistic and cross-cutting policies. We also want to work together at the operational level, for the centre as well as for local administrations, to deal with the challenges of disaster preparedness, relief and post-disaster management.

We will not work in a vacuum: this project will build on the successful experiences on Pollution accident Emergency warning and early-response systems and on flood- management development in the EU-China River Basin Management Programme.

This project will also establish links with two newly established partnerships between the EU and China: the China Europe Water Platform (CEWP), formally launched at the 6th World Water Forum in March 2012, and the EU-China Partnership on Sustainable Urbanization launched in May 2012.

All these initiatives demonstrate the EU's determination to cooperate with others in the field of disaster risk management. I am in China today but we have signed administrative agreements on civil protection with the US, with Russia and with Australia, to name just a few. We have decided that we should have better cooperation with Japan, in particular after the terrible triple disaster that struck your neighbour little more than a year ago.

We also have taken the issue of resilience very seriously in the context of our development cooperation around the world. For countries at high risk of recurrent natural disasters - floods, droughts or hurricanes - we intend to emphasize policies and investments than can help reduce damages and improve the ability of local people to cope when a disaster strikes. We just launched a new program for the Horn of Africa called SHARE - Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience - and on Monday, June 18th, will initiate consultations for a similar resilience program for the Sahel region. I very much hope that cooperation with China can lead to more effective engagement in supporting vulnerable countries to better face the challenges of more devastating disasters.

And this leads me to end where I started, with Haiti. Two and a half years after the earthquake it is clear that Haiti’s fundamental issue is about development rather than humanitarian assistance. Yet, if there had been better coordination, our respective efforts could have benefited more Haitians and in a better way. We can do this for the Horn of Africa, we can do it for the Sahel. So let us therefore work together, the EU and China, and use our new platform to build a more resilient world on the basis of our respective experiences.

Thank you.