11th Ministerial Session of the European and Mediterranean (EUR-OPA) Major Hazards Agreement

31 October 2006 - Marrakech (Morocco)

Speech by Ian Micallef, President of the Congress Chamber of Local Authorities

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, I would like to thank the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement for having chosen as one of the themes of this session the role of local and regional authorities in risk prevention. This choice shows, firstly, that the understanding that local and regional authorities often find themselves in the forefront of mitigating the consequences of major disasters when they occur, or facing the need to carry out preventive measures to lessen the effect of such disasters.

Secondly, the decision to include the local and regional aspect in the agenda of this session reflects the very close and fruitful cooperation between the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement. It is also the recognition of the Congress’ input in the domain of disaster management and of the increasing responsibilities of territorial authorities who are the first to face the consequences of catastrophes.

I am delighted to see that most of the Congress recommendations dealing with disaster management and risk reduction are included in the draft recommendation to be adopted by this session, in recognition of the fact, I may add, that disaster risk reduction and prevention is a task which requires the commitment and effort of all actors, all stake-holders at the international, national, regional and local levels.

Regional and local authorities being closest to the citizens are a key element in ensuring the delivery of good governance, and therefore have high institutional and legal responsibilities vis-à-vis our fellow citizens and before the law. In this respect, the Congress is doing its utmost to make sure that local and regional elected representatives exercise their responsibilities in the best possible democratic conditions and make the right decisions when faced with difficult choices.

It is in this spirit that the Congress Committee on Sustainable Development, committed to pursuing its work on the issues of major hazards, included, among its priorities for 2007-2008, the subject of reducing the vulnerability and better adapting to the consequences of global warming and climate change, the most worrying trends of this century.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We all remember the shocking and horrifying scenes in cities across the world - in New Orleans after the hurricane in 2005, in Madrid and London after terrorist attacks also in 2005 and in New York after September 11 in 2001. They remind us of the important role of local and regional authorities in coping with natural and man-made emergency situations. Every such situation requires a tremendous effort on the part of these authorities in evacuating people, providing food and shelter, treating the wounded and restoring public services. For example, it is an established fact that repeated training exercises carried out by the New York authorities in event of emergency enabed for the largest and fastest evacuation, probably in history, of some 25,000 people within 45 minutes between the terrorist attacks and the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

Be it a terrorist attack, an accidental explosion – like in Enschede in 2000 or in Toulouse in 2001 – or a natural disaster, local and regional authorities are always the first to react in a crisis management situation, to ensure public safety and carry out a risk analysis and prepare plans for preventing the worst-case scenarios.

In this regard, I welcome here my colleague Jan Mans, a very active member of our Congress who was the Mayor of Enschede at the time of the disaster and who therefore has first-hand experience in responding to such situations.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is clear that it is of utmost importance for governments to involve local and regional authorities in decision-making on risk prevention and reduction, and for local and regional authorities to provide information and training to their public services and to all of the citizens within their jurisdiction, to set up early warning systems, to carry out vulnerability assessment of areas for which they are responsible and to ensure sustainable land-use and spatial planning.

I am glad to see that all these issues have been taken into account in the draft recommendation before this session. As President of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Council of Europe Congress, I would like to stress that the Congress has a long experience in dealing with issues related to both natural and man-made disasters. I can mention our recommendations on nuclear safety and local and regional democracy of 1998, on local authorities confronting natural disasters and emergencies of 2002, on local authorities facing emergencies of 2005, on the role of local authorities in dealing with major oil spills, also of 2005 – all of which, I must add, are included in the draft recommendation.

In March this year, our Committee on Sustainable Development organised a conference in Slavutych, Ukraine, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. The conference adopted the Slavutych Appeal – which is also referred to in the draft recommendation – an Appeal which set out five basic principles to guide public authorities in nuclear safety matters. While recognising the central role of governments in the global management of nuclear safety on a world scale, the Appeal also underlined the crucial role of local and regional authorities in involving and consulting citizens and protecting communities, in developing neighbourhood solidarity and cross-border cooperation with other regions and countries, and in ensuring transparency in public affairs and permanent access to information on the operation of nuclear plants.

As recently as 19 October, the Congress organised a hearing on innovative approaches of local and regional authorities in tackling the consequences of climate change, which was held in Yerevan, Armenia, with the participation in particular of the Mayor of Pamplona, Spain, and the Deputy Mayors of Paris and Oslo. It was the occasion to examine the best practices in dealing with climate change on the basis of case studies in several cities, and we hope to have a follow-up to this hearing soon.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to conclude by stressing the significance of creating networks for disaster management and risk prevention and reduction, which is indeed the initial objective of the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement – networks both across the board, between regions, cities and countries, and on a vertical basis, involving international organisations, national, regional and local authorities, parliaments and civil society. With this in mind, the Council of Europe Congress has recently supported the launching of the European Forum on Local and Regional Disaster Management, and its first General Assembly which took place in September this year in Valetta, Malta.

We certainly hope that the Forum and the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement will establish close cooperation between each other much as we in the Congress will continue to reinforce our well-developed links with the Agreement, including through the follow-up to the Declaration which will be adopted at this conference.

Thank you.