Environment Agency: England needs 1 billion pound a year for flood protection

Concentration of flood risk areas in England: dark green= 10-20% of the total area is flood plain; 20-30% light blue, 30-40% dark blue; 40-50 % orange. In the red areas more than halve is flood plain.

Flood protection funds need to double to 1billion pound a year by 2035 to protect the one in six homes at risk of flooding in England, according to two new reports from the UK Environment Agency published June 19. In its Flooding in England report, the organisation has revealed that over 430,000 people in flood risk areas have now signed up to its flood warnings service and is urging those who are not yet subscribed to join. The free service provides vital early warning by SMS, telephone or email, helping to save the lives of those at risk of flooding. Also publishing a Long Term Investment Strategy for England, the British government’s environmental watchdog says that a steady increase in investment will be vital to maintain current levels of protection against rising seas levels, more rapid rates of coastal erosion, and increasingly severe and frequent rainstorms due to climate change. The funding recommendations are based on the latest climate change impact predictions, released June 18.

Source: New Civil Engineer, June 19, 2009:

www.nce.co.uk

Related sources:

- full report Flooding in England (pdf): http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk

- full report Long Term Investment Strategy for England (pdf):

www.environment-agency.gov.uk/publications

EU member states report very differently on climate adaptation

Cover of the PEER-report that compared the existing NAPA's from EU member states.

Two new reports examining climate change adaptation and policy making across Europe were launched in Brussels June 23 at the European Commission. The preliminary conclusions of the research were used in the European Commission’s White Paper on climate change, published in April 2009. The first new report from PEER, ‘Europe Adapts to Climate Change: Comparing National Adaptation Strategies’, critically analyzes the current status of national adaptation strategies in EU member states, and identifies a variety of opportunities to strengthen their further development and implementation, including timely and targeted scientific research. The second report, ‘Climate Policy Integration, Coherence and Governance’, concludes that specific measures to tackle climate change, such as emissions trading, will only be successful if they are coherently supported by other government policies addressing economic and social issues. The NAS vary in their emphasis: water availability is stressed in southern European countries, whereas flood risk is a recurrent theme in central and northern Europe where some potential benefits are also highlighted.

Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, press release (on behalf PEER), June 23 2009:

www.cemagref.fr

Related source:

- full PEER-report Europe adapts to climate change: Comparing national adaptation strategies (pdf): http://peer-initiative.org/media

International helpdesk to support integrated flood management launched

New website with helpdesk for flood management

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in cooperation with 20 partner institutions, on June 17 launched the HelpDesk for Integrated Flood Management (IFM HelpDesk) during the Second Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The IFM HelpDesk will provide demand-driven guidance to all countries working on integrated flood management policy, strategy and development. The IFM HelpDesk is designed for use by stakeholders in the fields of water resource management, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The potential users include national, regional and local agencies, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, river basin organizations, non-governmental organizations, universities, community-based organizations and other flood management practitioners and planners.

Source: World Meteorological Organization (WMO) website, June 17 2009:

www.wmo.int/press_releases

Related source:

- IFM HelpDesk website: www.floodmanagement.info

Water woes seen as opportunity for investors in agriculture

Good opportunities for investors in modern water technologies for agriculture.

Water scarcity is a growing problem for rural and urban areas alike around the globe, but is providing an opportunity for investors, according to leading agricultural experts and investment strategists. Water shortages and potential investment opportunities were the topic of discussion on June 23 at an agricultural investing conference in New York attended by about 200 financial and corporate agriculture representatives. With a world population estimated to surge past 9 billion by 2050, ownership and access to water to grow crops, nourish livestock and provide energy will be a key in the coming years. With this in mind, there is a need for a variety of new technologies, system modernization, irrigation improvements and more drought-tolerant crops, among other potential investment opportunities. Projects in Africa are particularly in need of water-related investment, said Susan Payne, CEO of Emergent asset management’s African agricultural land fund.

Source: Reuters, June 23, 2009:

www.reuters.com/environmentNews

European Commission launches strategy to boost development of Baltic Sea Region

Black Sea harbour of Tallinn, Estonia.

The European Commission presented its proposal for an EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region on June 10. Five years on from enlargement, the region is facing pressing challenges including the deteriorating state of the Baltic Sea, poor transport links, barriers to trade and energy supply concerns. These problems have been exacerbated by a lack of effective coordination. The Strategy above all aims to maximise the development potential of the Member States and regions in the Baltic Sea area, which is home to nearly 100 million people. The strategy takes the form of a communication and an action plan with a list of 80 flagship projects, some of which have already been launched. This is the first time that the EU has developed such a comprehensive strategy at the level of a “macro-region”. It could inspire similar approaches in areas such as the Mediterranean or Danube basin. In particular, it constitutes a first step towards the regional implementation of the EU integrated Maritime Policy, the EC hopes. Between 2007 and 2013, the Baltic Sea Region will benefit from more than 50 billion euro of investment support under the Cohesion Policy and other EU funding, including 27 billion euro for improved accessibility, nearly 10 billion euro for the environment, 6.7 billion euro for competitiveness and 697 million euro for security and risk prevention.

Source: European Commission, press release, June 10, 2009:

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressRelease

Related source:

– the strategy outlined: EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (pdf): http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy

Bangladesh starts pilot project with cell phones to send disaster alerts

Government of Bangladesh wants to use cell phones to warn for cyclones.

Tens of thousands of mobile users in Bangladesh’s flood and cyclone-prone areas will now receive advance warning of an impending natural disaster through an alert on their cell phones, a government official said June 25. Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to natural disasters which often affect millions of people. In a bid to minimize loss of life and damage to property, Bangladeshi authorities have signed an agreement with two mobile operators in the country to provide disaster early warning alerts to subscribers. Grameenphone and state-owned Teletalk will send instant messages to their subscribers in two of the most vulnerable areas – flood-prone north-central Shirajganj district and cyclone-prone Cox’s Bazar district on the coast. With a population of around 162 million, Bangladesh has more than 46 million mobile phone subscribers. The messages would not be the usual SMS format, but would flash automatically on the screen of mobile phone sets, instead of going to message boxes. This way, people would not have to even push a button on their handsets, making it very user-friendly.

Source: Thomson Reuters/Planet Ark, June 25, 2009:

http://planetark.org

Tibet adds funding to drought relief as dry spell exceeds seven months

Tibet suffering worst drought since 30 years.

A drought in Tibet has intensified into the region’s worst in three decades, leaving thousands of hectares parched and killing more than 13,000 head of cattle, China’s state media said June 20. Drought conditions have hit five of Tibet’s six prefectures since last year, affecting 15.3 percent of the remote plateau, China’s news agency Xinhua said, quoting the regional drought relief and flood control headquarters. It also said 13,601 head of cattle had died, but did not say over what time frame the deaths occurred. On June 23, local authorities in Tibet allocated 10 million yuan (1.47 million U.S. dollars) to combat the drought that has now lasted for more than seven months in parts of the plateau region. Besides the starved cattle, the drought has affected 33,627 hectares of cropland, 8,313 ha of forests and 2,027 ha of grassland, said a spokesman with the flood control and drought relief headquarters of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Source: Xinhua news agency, news release, June 23, 2009:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english

Jan de Nul awarded coastal restoration for Mexican beaches of Cancun

Previous restoration on the beach Playa Delfines, Cancun in 2006.

Méxicana de Dragados S.A. de C.V., a member of the Belgian Jan De Nul Group, has been awarded the contract for the beach restoration of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel. The total contract value amounts to 45 million Euros. The job consists of the dredging and reclamation of more than 6 million cubic metres from a sand deposit located about 25 miles from the tourist beach in Cancún. Sand will have to be pumped on the beaches of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and on the island of Cozumel. Additionally, two underwater breakwaters will be constructed to protect the beaches from erosion. This prestigious project aims to boost the tourism industry in Mexico after it took a severe hit as a result of the recent so-called swine or tequila flu.

Source: Idregde.com website, June 11, 2009:

www.idredge.com

Related source:

- Jan de Nul website: www.jandenul.com

UK: Four new flood protection plans along Humber and Ouse securing 40.000 people

Banks of the Humber near Brough.

A major 36 million pounnd package of four flood schemes has been announced to provide improved protection to over 40,000 people in Brough and Swinefleet in the Humber.
The schemes are the first to be built as a result of the Humber Strategy, a 100 year plan for flood risk management around the estuary. They are part of a partnership the Environment Agency has set up with specialist engineering firm Birse Civils, with design consultants Halcrow and Black & Veatch. The scheme is likely to include the construction or improvement of around 2,200 metres of defences, a new outfall and improvements to two other outfalls. The UK Environment Agency has commissioned environmental surveys to help prepare for a planning application later in the year. A public consultation on the proposals is planned for this summer. This will be followed by detailed designs, and it is hoped to start work next year. It is hoped that all work will be completed by 2011.

Source: New Civil Engineer, June 22, 2009:

www.nce.co.uk

Haiti to receive 120 million dollar in IDB grants

Flooded area of Port-au-Prince after hurricane Ike hit Haiti in September 2008.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved 120 million US dollar in grants for 2010 to help Haiti make investments in key sectors, including infrastructure, basic services and disaster prevention. The 120 million dollar grant allocation for 2010 is expected to provide more funds for investments in transportation infrastructure, a second phase of the rehabilitation of the Péligre hydroelectric plant and the extension of water services in Port-au-Prince, among other priority projects. The new grant comes on top of the 100 million dollar already allocated to Haiti for 2009, which was a direct response to the damage inflicted by last year’s hurricanes and the spikes in oil and food prices. The IDB is currently financing 22 projects in Haiti, with a total budget of 675 million dollar. The portfolio of loans and grants is largely focused on infrastructure, agriculture, water and sanitation, electricity, education, vocational training, and state modernization.

Source Khl Group website, June 24, 2009:

www.khl.com