Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased to welcome our very special guest for this very important dialogue. We are indeed honoured to have such a distinguished guest as the special representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations with responsibility for disaster risk reduction. I have done some research on our guest. Ms Wahlström has a glittering career, spanning more than 30 years in international disaster response and humanitarian work in more than 100 countries, including many across the Middle East, north Africa, south-east Asia, southern Africa and Latin America. She holds a most important position in a world that has seen a dramatic rise in the incidence of natural disasters, many as a result of climate change. She referred to situations here in Ireland. We never thought that we would be importing grass as has been the case in recent times as a result of unusual weather patterns that have continued over a period of 12 months.

Ms Wahlström referred to the flooding in Cork. We have had severe flooding over a number of years, in particular in 2009 when a significant number of homes were flooded in my home town of Ballinasloe, County Galway. The homes of more than 150 people were severely damaged and some people had to be relocated. Extensive remedial works were carried out after the flooding, with the local authority and local community working closely together.

In many of the world's least-developed countries, extreme events occur so frequently that resources, which are badly needed for poverty reduction and economic development, are being diverted to disaster relief and reconstruction. Many countries and communities are ill-prepared to cope with extreme events and climate change threatens to undermine many decades of effort in the areas of poverty reduction, development assistance and disaster risk management. The loss of life resulting from natural hazards is considerable and the number of people affected and the associated economic losses have substantially increased since the 1970s. I saw a figure that 90% of all people killed by disasters since the 1970s were victims of climate-related hazards.

As the world climate changes, climate-related extremes will become more prevalent and we will see more extreme events such as heat waves, cold waves, extreme floods, droughts, tropical cyclones and storms. These events will present huge challenges for governments and communities.

As Ms Wahlström said, we will only build resilience to disasters by working together as inhabitants of this planet. As our Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Joe Costello, said recently in a speech in Brussels, we need to strengthen our resilience to disasters by linking relief, rehabilitation and development and we need to strengthen partnerships and work better together. We need to realise the most important stakeholders are the local people living in the environment at risk.

I read an extract from a speech Ms Wahlström delivered recently in which she spoke about communities and involving women who are at the coalface in terms of protecting their families and looking out for their environment. They need to be involved in the decision-making process as we plan to reduce risk throughout the world.

Ms Wahlström referred to the framework for action 2005-15, Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. That has served as a guiding document in strengthening and building international co-operation to ensure disaster risk is reduced as a foundation for sound national and international development policy. I was not really aware of that document until I did some research for today but it is very comprehensive and prioritises some very significant actions. It refers to the political commitment required at national and international levels and community participation, to which I referred. The speech Ms Wahlström made in Bangkok in October 2012 laid out a very significant marker. There is a need for early warning systems, which are people-centred, and for the use of the wonderful technology we have today to alert people in a timely fashion. The document refers to the need to educate people and to use knowledge and innovation to build a culture of safety. Public awareness is very much highlighted. There is little public awareness throughout the world of what is happening and of the plans and policies we need to put in place.

The life of that framework document will expire in two years' time. It will need to be reviewed and updated given that the world is changing so rapidly. Since that document was put in place there has been huge population growth, rapid urbanisation, huge industrial development, environmental challenges and climate change which are all increasing risk at an alarming rate. Governments and communities face huge challenges if they are to reverse the upward trend in disasters and to protect lives, jobs, homes and food and water supplies.

I read Ms Wahlström's speech on the value of water and what a scarce resource it is. Every government and local authority would do well to read that. We will only succeed if there is political commitment, strong leadership and involvement of all stakeholders in a bottom-up approach.

The world is fortunate to have Ms Wahlström at the forefront of the challenge of disaster risk reduction. I wish her continued success and hope she will come back for further dialogue when we may have more time to expand and expound on some of the very pressing issues.