{"id":17249,"date":"2016-05-09T16:39:54","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T16:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=17249"},"modified":"2018-04-22T12:00:14","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T16:00:14","slug":"ecosoc-on-el-nino-reducing-risks-capturing-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2016\/05\/ecosoc-on-el-nino-reducing-risks-capturing-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"ECOSOC on El Ni\u00f1o: reducing risks, capturing opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Statement on the occasion of the ECOSOC Special Meeting on\u00a0Impacts of the 2015\/16 El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon:\u00a0Reducing risks and capturing opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n

6 May 2016, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Headquarters, New York<\/em><\/p>\n

The Economic and Social Council convened a Special Meeting on \u201cImpacts of the 2015\/16 El Ni\u00f1o\u00a0phenomenon: Reducing risks and capturing opportunities\u201d at the request of the General Assembly on 6\u00a0May 2016.<\/p>\n

As President of the Economic and Social Council, I am pleased to share the following key messages and\u00a0recommendations that emerged from our discussions during the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon\u2013\u2013with its increasing intensity\u2013\u2013has lasting consequences for\u00a0development. We heard the many serious social, economic, and environmental impacts of the\u00a02015\/16 El Ni\u00f1o. Extreme weather is affecting people\u2019s lives, productive capacity, health and\u00a0livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\u2022 More than 60 million around the world have been impacted. People whose livelihoods depend on\u00a0agriculture, fisheries and livestock are particularly affected. Some countries have lost arable\u00a0<\/span>farmable land. In Southern Africa alone, over 32 million people are affected by severe drought.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 In countries with ongoing high level of exposure and vulnerability to extreme climate events, in\u00a0particular many of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the compounding effect of the current\u00a0El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon is adding further burden to their national and local capacity to manage risk and\u00a0disasters. The impacts of the 2015\/16 El Ni\u00f1o has also been particularly hard on the countries of\u00a0Central America.<\/p>\n

\u2022 During the special meeting on El Ni\u00f1o, we heard of the significant investments in preparedness,\u00a0mitigation and risk reduction efforts undertaken by a number of countries. Strong risk-informed\u00a0national planning efforts, budgeting for preparedness across sectors, coordinating local and national\u00a0efforts, and strengthening early warning systems were highlighted. This is leading to a diversion of\u00a0resources that could have been invested on achieving the SDGs.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We also heard from donors and Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ entities of support they provided to highly affected countries.\u00a0There were also some innovations in releasing financing prior to events based on early warning\u00a0information. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ system should look to a coherent, coordinated and integrated approach in\u00a0support and assistance to countries. The recent agreement among FAO, IFAD, OCHA and WFP to\u00a0develop a protocol outlining steps to be taken collectively, within defined timelines, will help ensure\u00a0early and coordinated responses to future El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a events.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We heard how science, observatories and capacity building are helping to improve climate forecasts.\u00a0While the physical signs of the 2015\/16 El Ni\u00f1o event are weakening, it will continue to influence\u00a0climate patterns through the middle of 2016; and its socio-economic impacts will continue to\u00a0strengthen till end of 2016. There are also signs that a La Ni\u00f1a event is likely to begin towards\u00a0August 2016.<\/p>\n

\u2022 I commend the regions and countries that have put in place longer term policies to initiate climate\u00a0predictions through regional climate centres and have developed capacity to act on these\u00a0predictions. As a result, they are experiencing lower impacts. Coordination at the national, regional\u00a0and local levels and use of information and communication technology have been instrumental in\u00a0an effective response. Political will at the highest level was also considered key to the success of\u00a0these efforts.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Our immediate priority must be to reduce the impact of the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon by implementing\u00a0the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the Paris Agreement on Climate\u00a0Change in a coherent and integrated manner. The importance of risk management was also\u00a0underscored in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which calls for the development and\u00a0implementation of a holistic disaster risk management at all levels. Risk reduction and resilience\u00a0building efforts should also be part of the World Humanitarian Summit considerations and the New\u00a0Urban Agenda of the Habitat III Conference.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We must learn from the current El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon and set plans and strategies in order to\u00a0prepare for and address the risks and impacts of future El Ni\u00f1os and the possibilities of La Ni\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Food insecurity, malnutrition and hunger remain a concern. We must put in place early warning and\u00a0early action systems for the agricultural sector, to reduce its vulnerability to the El Ni\u00f1o\u00a0phenomenon. In addition, we need to establish social protection schemes and build capacity of
\nnational governments to mitigate and be prepared for future El Ni\u00f1os.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We need effective measures to prevent the health consequences of El Ni\u00f1o conditions, which are
\nexpected to increase throughout 2016. These include increased levels of acute malnutrition
\nassociated with food insecurity and vulnerability to infectious diseases, as well as higher incidence of
\nrespiratory diseases due to wildfires and heath stress caused by heat waves.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We underline the importance of systematically evaluating, recording, sharing of information and
\npublicly accounting for disaster losses in order to develop strategies and plans to address the
\nimpacts of future El Ni\u00f1os.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sustainable funding is necessary to build vulnerable people\u2019s long-term resilience to extreme
\nweather events related to the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We have to ensure that our development investments, public and private, are resilient and risk
\nsensitive. Investments are required in long-term efforts to provide climate services that reduce the
\nrisk to extreme events. These investments should increase local and national preparedness capacity
\nand resilience \u2013 particularly in the agriculture and food security, water and health sectors \u2013 in line
\nwith the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We must promote further development and investment in effective, nationally compatible, regional,
\nmulti-hazard early warning mechanisms, in line with the Global Framework for Climate services and
\nfacilitate the sharing and exchange of information among countries.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Governments cannot deal with the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon alone. Partnerships, that bring together all
\nactors and help break silo approaches, would be indispensable. As the report of the Secretary-
\nGeneral for the World Humanitarian Summit indicates, \u201cending need\u201d would require reinforcing, not\u00a0replacing national system; anticipating, not waiting for crises; and transcending the humanitarian-development\u00a0divide.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We need a coordinated and comprehensive approach to addressing the economic, social and
\nenvironmental dimensions of the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon. The Economic and Social Council will
\ncontinue to monitor the impact of the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon and to promote coordination and
\ncoherence in the work of the United Nations development system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon\u2013\u2013with its increasing intensity\u2013\u2013has lasting consequences for development. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":11931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23,4],"tags":[144,793,1165],"class_list":["post-17249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-change","category-life-on-land","category-news","tag-climate-change","tag-ecosoc","tag-el-nino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}