Emergency preparedness and response
A key element of emergency response is the rapid identification and mitigation of environmental risks. In 1994, UNEP and OCHA established a partnership to coordinate international response to environmental emergencies whenever international assistance is requested by affected countries. They can deploy environmental experts and equipment, conduct rapid environmental assessments, and provide remote support.
Recent UNEP Missions
When environmental emergencies occur, countries can request the support of international bodies like the UNEP/OCHA partnership to carry out independent fact-finding missions and provide recommendations. The latest field missions took place in the Bahamas, Dominica and Colombia.
In Bahamas, a team was deployed to the islands after Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 hurricane, left a trail of devastation on 1st September 2019. Among the key environmental concerns after the hurricane were disaster waste management, potential secondary and cascading impacts resulting from damages to the numerous hazardous operation facilities of the islands, and especially the confirmed crude oil spill originating from Equinor’s oil storage facility on Grand Bahama Island. The official report of the mission is accessible here, and two articles on the missions have been published by UNEP “Weathering the storm after Hurricane Dorian” and OCHA.
In Dominica, UNEP and OCHA deployed two disaster waste management experts to the country at the request of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency after hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the island in September 2017. As debris, solid and healthcare waste pose a significant public health risk to communities, the mission main finding was the need for a long-term waste management strategy. One of the experts reported on the mission in an article: “Tackling a hurricane’s trail of waste.” Following this mission, UNEP is now developing a project on Disaster Waste Management in the entire Caribbean.
In Colombia, two missions were carried out in 2018. In April 2018, a mission of eight experts was sent at the Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development’s request, after an oil spill occurred in the Santander Department and affected two bodies of water. The mission concluded that the humanitarian effects of the spill were the most preoccupying, with risks for the food security of the fishing community and of small farmers. In May 2018, another mission was sent to Colombia at the request of The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development after landslides occurred during the construction of the biggest hydroelectrical dam of Colombia in the Antioquia department in April. Besides providing technical recommendations to stabilize the dam, reduce the risks associated with a landslide in the reservoir and improve emergency management and risk communication, the team presented actions to be taken regarding the sustainability of the project and public confidence in hydroelectric works in the country.
Remote support
In response to natural hazards, technological accidents or a combination of both, the partnership between OCHA and UNEP can also provide remote support to help assess situations and give technical guidance to governments. Remote support often consists of satellite image analysis, for example to assess the extent and gravity of a disasters and emergencies such as oil spills or wildfires, their proximity to infrastructure and vulnerable populations.
The latest remote support mission was carried out after a sudden worsening of air quality in March 2020 near the municipality of San José de Cúcuta, North Santander department, in Colombia. Colombian authorities requested assistance to assess the situation and advise on mitigation of negative environmental and health impacts. Satellite imagery and assessments of air quality showed that wildfires had been the main source of the severe pollution episode, combined with local emissions, long-range transport pollutants, very slack winds and limited rainfall.
Capacity building: Environmental Emergencies Trainings
Environment and Emergencies Trainings (EET) are organized for experts wishing to deepen their knowledge on the topic of environmental emergencies and to be deployed as environmental experts on UN missions. The next EET will be carried out in Mexico in 2021.
Chemical emergencies training
Chemical emergencies trainings are organized to provide information to countries on best practices for preventing, preparing and responding to emergencies related to hazardous chemicals and waste. These trainings present existing mechanisms put in place by OCHA and UNEP to assist countries in case of a chemical emergency, also raising awareness of the Basel Convention emergency assistance available to Parties in case of an incident caused by the transboundary movements of hazardous and other wastes. This technical assistance is an integral part of the implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. The latest training was carried out in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2017.
The Nexus Environmental Assessment Tool (NEAT+) is an environmental screening tool that enables humanitarian actors to quickly identify issues of environmental concern before designing humanitarian interventions. The tool provides organizations with an overview of environmental vulnerabilities in their operations and highlights environmental risks associated with specific humanitarian activities.
A scoping mission was carried out in 2019 to promote the NEAT+ tool and assess key areas of environmental risk in the UN Refugee Agency’s response to Venezuelan refugee movements in Maicao, La Guajira Department, in Colombia.
In 2020, UNEP is seeking to adapt the NEAT+ tool for urban contexts.
