Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit

The WSSD Environmental Emergencies Partnership

Background
In early 2001, the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit took the first steps towards formulating an international partnership, to be launched at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, that aimed to strengthen the international network for a more integrated approach to environmental emergencies management

On 30 August 2002, the Partnership for an Integrated Approach to Prevention, Preparedness for and Response to Environmental Emergencies was officially launched at the WSSD in Johannesburg, South Africa.

On 15 May 2003, a joint AGEE/APELL meeting discussed the implementation phase of the Partnership. The positive discussions and the interest expressed by many of the participants will enable the Joint Unit and partners, to move forward in implementing the Partnership. For more information on the Joint AGEE/APELL Meeting, click here.

The Partnership has a number of key objectives that it aims to achieve, such as:

  • Promoting the integration of environmental emergency preparedness and response activities into strategies and assistance programs relevant to sustainable development;
  • Assisting countries in developing their own capabilities to deal with environmental emergencies and to facilitate information exchange, training and technological co-operation, and;
  • Improving dialogue and mutual assistance among public authorities, the private sector and the public in general on issues of emergency prevention, preparedness and response.

It is expected to achieve the following major results:

  • Provision of an effective framework for exchange of information on operational, technical and scientific matters concerning preparedness and response;
  • Enhanced capabilities of countries to prepare for and respond to environmental emergencies;
  • Improved international assistance in cases of environmental emergencies;
  • Improved cooperation and communication among various stakeholders to deal more effectively with preparedness for and response to environmental emergencies.

The Partnership will take into full account existing emergency preparedness and response tools and products that have been developed by the partnering agencies and by OCHA's Environmental Emergencies Section (Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit), UNEP's APELL programme and UNEP's Disaster Management Branch. The Partnership will not substitute existing intergovernmental arrangements or systems for environmental emergency response, but rather complement and reinforce these by bringing together existing relevant networks.

Major partners in this important initiative are among others drawn from:

Governmental agencies from
Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Jamaica, Russian Federation, Sweden, United Kingdom

United Nations entities
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
UN Volunteers (UNV)

Intergovernmental organizations
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA)
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO)

Major groups
Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC)

Industry and Professional Groups
European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)
Global Fire Monitoring Centre (GFMC)

Outcome of the Joint AGEE/APELL Meeting on the WSSD Partnership (15 May 2003):