HMES 2013 Delegations: Reply from USA

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Reply from USA

Dear Hazmapping

I may be interested in participating. Please keep me on your mailing list.

Sincerely

Emile A . Okal
Dept. of Geological Sciences
1850 Campus Drive
Northwestern University
Evanston IL 60208-2150
USA
December 9, 2013

Dear Sir / Madame,

Greetings!

This is to formally invite your attention to our determination to hold the international conference on geohazard mapping and relevant environment issues. Our group decided to launch a campaign in 2009 for sustainable crisis hazards mapping and relevant environmental concerns after returning from Mindanao, Philippines following the end of the effort in ending the highly expensive hotel billeting by Juma’a Abu Sayyap of selected staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from Switzerland (Andreas Notter), Italy (Eugenio Vagni) and Philippines (Mary Jane Lacaba).

The purpose of the conference is to provide a fora within Southeast Asia for developed and developing countries, for consolidating databases, integrating and perfecting geohazard mapping and tagging - coordinates and all correlational information for disaster hot spot / safe spot zones, among others. When we began this effort, we noticed that mostly poor developing countries only, responded to our invitation. Understandably, nearly all or most of them required us to sponsor their travel and accommodations.

Our basic belief is in putting into action the requisites precluding the taking of measures to prevent and mitigate both the risks of loss of lives and property and actual casualties during a disaster. Furthermore, to allow disasters to ravage our communities without prior mitigation measures becomes an extremely tedious issue due to the fact that certain quarters in the public sector are remiss in delivering aid to victims of calamities [e.g. recent super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) here in the Philippines where it took more than one week for the government to respond].

Many of us agree to the principle shared by many of you that mitigation requires less expense and effort -

“than remediation or reconstruction actions. When mitigation and prevention are economically not feasible or when it is cheaper just to accept certain disasters (particularly those due to the most extreme events), the issue becomes an ethical one, where the decision is of how much we want to spend to avoid loss of lives.”

For this reason, we most sincerely invite your good self to participate as centers for leadership and influence, moderators or active participant-delegates in our planned conference.

We welcome your invitation to your colleagues and we hope that your respective organizations and state agencies can lend support for our undertaking in the Philippines. We fervently anticipate your most favorable reply soon.

Thank you so very much, with much privilege and honor we remain,

Faithfully yours,

Organizing Committee

Geo Hazards and Environment Summit 2014 Manila

Website: http://summit.hazmapping.org

Email: summit@hazmapping.org

hazmappingsummit@gmail.com

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Letter from United Nations

Dear HMES Organizers,

With reference to your email dated 22 November, please note that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, along with other agencies, funds, and programmes of the United Nations are supporting the people and government of the Philippines. The UN is helping communities and local governments recover from the disaster, build back safer and avoid relapses while strengthening resilience.

United Nations efforts are designed to support the Government of the Philippines response to the immediate humanitarian needs of the people affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), and complements the Government’s Yolanda Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan.

In this regards, the UN welcomes country-led efforts to improve hazard mapping and preparedness, and has been engaged in multi-year support in these areas. UN agencies in country and in the region are working with national geospatial and statistical agencies on improving GIS and risk mapping at the community level.

Your efforts to contribute to improve disaster preparedness are welcome. Committed citizens are needed to raise awareness and to join this effort. I therefore encourage you to engage in ongoing national and regional initiatives on disaster risk reduction.

Sincerely,

The Director

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

United Nations

Geneva

Distracting fight vs. Climate Change

After the 2005 Hyogo Conference, scientists urged the United Nations to consider that the various conflicting issues surrounding Climate Change is "distracting governments" from providing solutions to threats of disasters worldwide.

"The current UN focus on "fighting climate change," as illustrated in the Nov. 27 UN Development Programme's Human Development Report, is distracting governments from adapting to the threat of inevitable natural climate changes, whatever forms they may take. National and international planning for such changes is needed, with a focus on helping our most vulnerable citizens adapt to conditions that lie ahead. Attempts to prevent global climate change from occurring are ultimately futile, and constitute a tragic misallocation of resources that would be better spent on humanity's real and pressing problems."

A letter written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon ventilated sentiments of scientists and technology experts on the issue of focusing deeper into finding means to adapt to the threat of climate change.