Senior officials from Asia-Europe Meeting members and leading expertsfrom ASEM partners, the United Nations and regional and internationalorganisations gathered in Hanoi on November 18 for an ASEMhigh-level meeting on disaster prevention and relief in response toclimate change.
The event is toimplement the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s initiative adopted at theninth ASEM Summit in Laos 12 months ago.
Openingthe meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minhnoted that entering the 21st century, natural calamities have turned outto be much more extreme, with an exceptional increase in frequency,scale and impact.
2013 is likely to be among the 10warmest years since global records began in 1850. Global warming iscausing changes in biological systems, thus leading to abnormalcatastrophes, he said citing the recent Provisional Statement on Statusof Climate in 2013 of the World Meteorological Organisation.
Asia and Europe are the two continents most often hit by naturaldisasters. The Asia-Pacific region alone has recorded almost 70 percentof the world’s disasters and nearly two thirds of the victims are inAsia , he added.
“Such catastrophes will continue tobe one of the most challenging non-traditional security threats in thiscentury,” he emphasised.
“They will continuehindering our efforts to improve the quality of life of our people, toaccelerate economic recovery, to promote sustainable development and tostrengthen international economic integration.”
Asan indispensable inter-regional forum with 51 partners from Asia andEurope , and with vast economic and technology potential, ASEM has thecapacity and responsibility to contribute to international efforts inresponding to natural disasters, he affirmed.
TheDeputy PM proposed the meeting focus on best practices and lessonslearnt in response to natural disasters, while putting forward the mostpractical measures to promote ASEM cooperation in disaster riskreduction, management and mitigation.
He asked todiscuss and set up a network of research institutes and early warningsystems among ASEM partners, between Asia and Europe , and with thoseof regional and international organisations.
“Nowit is imperative for ASEM partners to work together with theinternational community for bolder action in implementing the ‘HyogoFramework for Action’ endorsed by the United Nations,” he stressed.
The meeting held a minute’s silence to commemorate the victims ofsuper typhoon Haiyan that recently swept through the Philippines ,Vietnam and China .
During the two-day meeting,120 delegates will discuss disaster risk reduction and mitigation, adevelopment agenda beyond 2015, and research, policies and practices inbuilding recovery capacity and strengthening Asia-Europe cooperation inresponse to natural disasters.
In addition to theASEM workshop on water resources and river basin management in Can Thoin March, the meetings are two major activities of the cooperationmechanism hosted by Vietnam this year.
Themeeting is also among 18 initiatives proposed by Vietnam at ASEM,contributing to the Asia-Europe cooperation process as well asdemonstrating the country’s role and responsibility in the internationalcommunity.-VNA
The event is toimplement the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s initiative adopted at theninth ASEM Summit in Laos 12 months ago.
Openingthe meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minhnoted that entering the 21st century, natural calamities have turned outto be much more extreme, with an exceptional increase in frequency,scale and impact.
2013 is likely to be among the 10warmest years since global records began in 1850. Global warming iscausing changes in biological systems, thus leading to abnormalcatastrophes, he said citing the recent Provisional Statement on Statusof Climate in 2013 of the World Meteorological Organisation.
Asia and Europe are the two continents most often hit by naturaldisasters. The Asia-Pacific region alone has recorded almost 70 percentof the world’s disasters and nearly two thirds of the victims are inAsia , he added.
“Such catastrophes will continue tobe one of the most challenging non-traditional security threats in thiscentury,” he emphasised.
“They will continuehindering our efforts to improve the quality of life of our people, toaccelerate economic recovery, to promote sustainable development and tostrengthen international economic integration.”
Asan indispensable inter-regional forum with 51 partners from Asia andEurope , and with vast economic and technology potential, ASEM has thecapacity and responsibility to contribute to international efforts inresponding to natural disasters, he affirmed.
TheDeputy PM proposed the meeting focus on best practices and lessonslearnt in response to natural disasters, while putting forward the mostpractical measures to promote ASEM cooperation in disaster riskreduction, management and mitigation.
He asked todiscuss and set up a network of research institutes and early warningsystems among ASEM partners, between Asia and Europe , and with thoseof regional and international organisations.
“Nowit is imperative for ASEM partners to work together with theinternational community for bolder action in implementing the ‘HyogoFramework for Action’ endorsed by the United Nations,” he stressed.
The meeting held a minute’s silence to commemorate the victims ofsuper typhoon Haiyan that recently swept through the Philippines ,Vietnam and China .
During the two-day meeting,120 delegates will discuss disaster risk reduction and mitigation, adevelopment agenda beyond 2015, and research, policies and practices inbuilding recovery capacity and strengthening Asia-Europe cooperation inresponse to natural disasters.
In addition to theASEM workshop on water resources and river basin management in Can Thoin March, the meetings are two major activities of the cooperationmechanism hosted by Vietnam this year.
Themeeting is also among 18 initiatives proposed by Vietnam at ASEM,contributing to the Asia-Europe cooperation process as well asdemonstrating the country’s role and responsibility in the internationalcommunity.-VNA
