'Prepare children for disaster' Save the Children tells G8
World leaders assembled at the G8 in Japan should change their tactics when dealing with the increased number of natural disasters linked to climate change.
Monday 7 July 2008
Around 175 million children are likely to be affected by the increase in the number and severity of disasters that climate change will bring. Governments should be planning for these disasters before they happen to reduce the damage they cause to the lives of vulnerable children and their families.
"It is too late to respond to climate change solely by reducing emissions. Children suffer most when disaster strikes, and the G8 must back measures to help prepare for it. That includes teaching them to swim, building safer schools and establishing early warning systems. Preparing for disaster will save millions of pounds worth of damage, but most importantly, it will save children’s lives," said Adrian Lovett, Save the Children Director of Campaigns, who is attending the G8.
In a new report, In the Face of Disaster: Children and climate change, the international aid agency said that an estimated $1 spent on preparing for a disaster can prevent $7 of losses. The G8 countries spend $5.7 billion responding to emergencies every year. If they all invested an additional 10% of this figure on preparation, they could prevent almost $4 billion of losses. This is nearly enough to respond to a disaster on the scale of the 2004 Asian tsunami three times over.
The countries represented at the G8 are all important donors to large scale emergencies like floods, droughts and cyclones. Save the Children says they must now invest in projects that will prepare children and their families for disaster and reduce the impact they will have. This includes everything from teaching children in vulnerable coastal areas to swim, building disaster resistant schools and other public buildings, making clear evacuation routes or setting up early warning systems. These projects — known as Disaster Risk Reduction — should involve everyone, including children living in villages, governments and international organisations.
All of the G8 countries have already signed up to the Hyogo framework, a global agreement on action to prepare for disasters. Save the Children calls on them to make good on their commitments.
Lovett continued: “The G8 in Japan must offer solutions and demonstrate strong leadership on preparing for disasters. They must go much further than agreeing measures to reduce carbon emissions and commit to a changing their approach to disasters in order to prevent further damage caused by climate change. Now is the time to think big and to think differently.”
Find out more
- Read how we're responding to emergencies caused by climate change
- G8 Summit Diary 7 July 2008: The World Bank president stole my seat (sort of)
- G8 SummitDiary 8 July 2008: Discussions, dancing, fireworks and Japanese tea
- Donate now to our Ethiopia Food Crisis Emergency Appeal and save a child's life today
