An environmental emergency is defined as a "sudden-onset disaster or accident resulting from natural, technological or human-induced factors, or a combination of these, that causes or threatens to cause severe environmental damage as well as loss of human lives and property." (UNEP/GC.22/INF/5, 13 November 2002.)
Following a disaster or conflict, an environmental emergency can occur when people's health and livelihoods are at risk due to the release of hazardous and noxious substances, or because of significant damage to the ecosystem. Examples include fires,
oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...
s,
chemical accident
A chemical accident is the unintentional release of one or more Chemical hazard, hazardous chemicals, which could harm human health and the environment. Such events include fires, explosions, and release of toxic materials that may cause people ill ...
s,
toxic waste dumping and
groundwater pollution
Groundwater pollution (also called groundwater contamination) occurs when pollutants are released to the ground and make their way into groundwater. This type of water pollution can also occur naturally due to the presence of a minor and unwant ...
.
The environmental risks can be acute and life-threatening. According to the
International Disaster Database (EM-DAT), between 2003 and 2013, there were 380 industrial accidents reported, affecting 207 668 people and resulting in over US$22 million in losses. Climate change is having an unprecedented effect on the occurrence of natural disasters and the associated risk of environmental emergencies. With climate change already stretching the disaster relief system, future climate-related emergency events will generate increased and more costly demands for assistance.
Context
All disasters have some environmental impacts.
Some of these may be immediate and life-threatening – for example, when an earthquake damages an industrial facility, which in turn releases hazardous materials. In such cases these so-called 'secondary impacts' may cause as much damage as the initial causal factor.
For example,
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that is among List of the most intense tropical cyclones, the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon ...
/Yolanda that struck the Philippines in November 2013, caused massive destruction and had a huge human toll but also generated a spill of around 800,000 litres of heavy oil, when a power barge ran aground in Estancia, Iloilo province, at the height of the typhoon.
Disasters may also have longer-term impacts. For example, natural disasters may cause long-term waste management difficulties or
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
damage.
Major international conferences
The Environmental Emergencies Forum is a unique biennial international forum that brings together disaster managers and environmental experts from governments,
UN agencies, industries, academies, NGOs and civil society to improve prevention, preparedness, response and overall resilience to environmental emergencies. It also provides guidance for the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, which provides a Secretariat to the meeting. The most recent meeting was held in Norway in June 2015. The next meeting will be held in Nairobi in June 2017.
Relevant organizations
United Nations
The Join
United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA) Environment Unit (JEU): By pairing the UNEP's technical expertise with OCHA's humanitarian response network, the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit (JEU) mobilizes and coordinates a comprehensive response to environmental emergencies to protect lives, livelihoods, ecosystems and future generations. The JEU can be reached 24 hours/day, seven days/week, all year round and operates at the request of affected countries. The JEU can be called by member states when acute environmental risks to life and health as a result of conflicts, natural disasters and industrial accidents are suspected.
The JEU hosts the Environmental Emergencies Centre
www.eecentre.org, an online tool designed primarily to provide national responders with a one-stop-shop of all information relevant to the preparedness, prevention and response stages of an environmental emergency.
Website
www.unocha/org/unepwww.eecentre.org
See also
*Disaster management
Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actua ...
*Environmental crime
Environmental crime is an illegal act which directly harms the environment. These illegal activities involve the environment, wildlife, biodiversity, and natural resources. International bodies such as, G7, Interpol, European Union, United Na ...
*Environmental disaster
An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity.Jared M. Diamond, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', 2005 This point distingu ...
*Natural disasters
A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...
*Risk management
Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources (i.e, Threat (sec ...
*UNISDR
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) was created in December 1999 to ensure the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
*Vulnerability
Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally." The understanding of social and environmental vulnerability, as a methodological approach, involves ...
*World Conference on Disaster Reduction
The World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction is a series of United Nations conferences focusing on disaster and climate risk management in the context of sustainable development. The World Conference has been convened three times, with each edit ...
References
External links
UN OCHA Environmental Emergencies Section
Environmental Emergencies Centre
Green Star Awards
Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction
*
APELL
UNEP/GC.22/INF/5
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EM-DAT
International Emergency Disaster Database at Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.
Emergency management
Humanitarian aid
Natural disasters
Environmental disasters