Understanding global security - Peter Hough

NATURAL THREATS TO SECURITY
The International Decade for Natural
Disaster Reduction (IDNDR)
The 1990s were designated as the International Decade for Natural Disaster
Reduction by UN General Assembly Resolution 46/182 in 1989, following the
recommendation of a specially commissioned ad hoc group of experts. The decade
inspired unprecedented levels of international cooperation in this policy area and
the formation or deepening of numerous epistemic communities for particular
disaster forms. The decade also, however, witnessed an upsurge in the number of
fatalities from natural disasters, which served to illustrate that transnational scientific
cooperation, though welcome, was not enough.
The IDNDR approach was largely technical and vertical. A number of sectoral
initiatives were launched such as the Global Fire Monitoring Centre, Tsunami
Inundation Modelling Exchange Programme and Tropical Cyclone Programme
which improved transnational early warning capacities. A number of pilot studies
were also activated during the decade by coordinating the work of existing international
organizations. UNEP, WHO and the World Meterological Organization
(WMO) collaborated in trial runs for a Heat/Health Warning System to better
anticipate extreme weather. The International Association of Vulcanology and
Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) instigated a scheme monitoring 16
active volcanoes to assess how public awareness of the various hazards could be
improved.
The arch ‘horizontalist’ Ben Wisner says of the decade: ‘Science was exchanged
all right, but generally it has not been applied’ (Wisner 2000). This view is echoed by
Britton:
There is little doubt that IDNDR was effective in encouraging nations to focus
attention on the threat posed by natural hazards and in creating an environment
wherein greater international colaboration was fostered. Nevertheless, the
fundamental task of reducing societal consequences of disaster reduction
remained.
(Britton 2001: 45)
The Secretariat of the IDNDR itself admitted: ‘The application of science and
technology was recognized as being essential for reducing the risk of natural
disasters, but in the early years of the decade, it became evident that this was not
sufficient by itself’ (Jeggle 1999: 24).
The International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR)
To continue the work undertaken under the IDNDR a successor UN body was
established in 1999 and launched in 2000. The ISDR was adopted at the 1999 IDNDR
Programme Forum and then ratified by both the UN General Assembly (54/219,
22 December 1999) and ECOSOC (E/1999/63, 30 July 1999). The ISDR has a small
secretariat based in Geneva under the authority of the Under-Secretary-General for
191