ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY ACP-EU 3669/04/fin. RESOLUTION1 on the damage caused by cyclones in the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean and the need for a rapid response to natural disasters The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, - meeting in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) from 16 to 19 February 2004, - having regard to its previous resolutions on the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Caribbean regions, - having regard to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, A. whereas tropical cyclone Heta recently ravaged the South Pacific islands of the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga, and cyclone Elita ravaged the west coast of Madagascar resulting in fatalities, leaving several people injured and hundreds homeless, and causing extensive damage to housing, infrastructure and agricultural crops, on which the local population heavily depends for its subsistence, B. recalling the 1994 Declaration of Barbados and the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDSs), and mindful of the convening in Mauritius in September 2004 of the UN Barbados +10 Conference on SIDSs, C. taking into account the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 2002, and in particular the international strategy defined to address the particular vulnerability of Small Island Developing States, D. having regard to the growing number of natural hazards and disasters and the increase in the devastating violence thereof, the origin of which may be found in climate change, demographic pressure and the impact human beings have on nature throughout the world, 1 Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 19 February 2004 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). EN EN E. whereas the impact of global warming caused by excessive fossil fuel burning, atmospheric pollution and deforestation is the main cause of global climate change, F. whereas despite a firm commitment to reverse the consequences of climate change, undertaken at the UN Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, no substantial progress has been made so far, particularly in reducing atmospheric pollution by carbon dioxide, G. whereas disasters not only result in a significant number of victims and high socio-economic costs but also hinder development processes, H. whereas the principles and objectives of Article 72 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement provide that humanitarian and emergency assistance shall be accorded to the population in the ACP States faced with serious economic and social difficulties of an exceptional nature resulting from natural disasters and man-made crisis, I. firmly believing that devoting greater attention to the prevention of natural risks in the drawing-up and implementation of development strategies would make a major contribution to achieving the priority objective of sustainable development, J. noting also that such assistance shall aim to safeguard human lives in crisis and immediate post-crisis situations brought about by natural disasters, conflict or war and that it shall be maintained as long as necessary to deal with the emergency needs resulting from these situations, K. regretting that the Kyoto Protocol has not yet been ratified by enough states to come into force, 1. Expresses its sympathy and understanding of the grave predicament facing the governments and peoples of the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga, in the aftermath of cyclone Heta, and the government and people of Madagascar, in the aftermath of cyclone Elita; 2. Calls on the EU to urgently address the humanitarian and reconstruction needs of the South Pacific islands of the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga, and of Madagascar, which were ravaged by cyclones Heta and Elita, in order to alleviate the suffering of the affected populations and to prevent any shortfall in medical and food supplies, as well as to help restoring essential infrastructure such as water and energy; 3. Draws the attention of the Commission, the Council and the Member States to the topic of disaster prevention and preparedness, with a view to securing greater protection of human lives, preventing suffering and limiting the economic consequences of disasters; EN EN 2 4. Urges the Commission to pay special attention to the critical role of measures such as soil conservation, reforestation and sound water management schemes in the context of disaster prevention; 5. Encourages the governments of the ACP and EU States to adopt a fast-track approach and to render the required assistance to facilitate the quickest possible recovery for these Pacific islands and Madagascar, while firmly supporting the work done by the EU in South-East Asia, Bangladesh, Central America and the Caribbean by means of a global approach involving ECHO and the EDF; 6. Calls on all countries to honour their commitment by ratifying and bringing into force the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change and considers that an effective global response to the problem of climate change is required, stressing that industrialised countries should take the lead in combating the effects of greenhouse gases; 7. Calls on the EU to make resources readily available from the EDF, where necessary in addition to National Indicative Programme and Regional Indicative Programme allocations, in order to provide urgent humanitarian assistance, and to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the physical and social infrastructure of the affected countries; 8. Urges the governments of the ACP and EU States to consider establishing a general fund to enable the implementation of an all-ACP disaster-preparedness programme, as well as the post-crisis management of natural disasters; 9. States once again its firm belief that disaster prevention should be systematically taken into account in EU development cooperation policy, particularly in the implementation of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the ACP States and the European Union; 10. Insists that the various aspects of disaster prevention and preparedness (prevention itself, preparing for disasters and mitigating the consequences of disasters) should be regarded as a fully-fledged component of development and development cooperation policies as regards both general programmes and specific projects within those programmes, and calls in particular for any humanitarian operation financed by the EU to include a prevention aspect; 11. Calls for greater account to be taken of the high socio-economic costs of disasters and the benefits of disaster prevention in the environmental assessments of the development policies, strategies, programmes and projects conducted by the European Union; 12. Acknowledges that sea level rise is a potential threat to the survival of small island countries because it leads to more severe tropical storms, disruption of limited fresh water supplies and decreasing biodiversity in marine resources; 13. Calls on the ACP and EU States to fix a specific target for the use of renewable energy and considers that renewable energy should be put at the heart of ACP- EN EN 3 EU development cooperation programmes under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement; 14. Looks forward to the International SIDSs meeting, scheduled to take place in Mauritius during August and September 2004 to review the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDSs and requests that the JPA be represented at that conference in order to give its position on the consequences of natural disasters on ACP States and the measures to be adopted in favour of SIDSs; 15. Commends the efforts of the Pacific Islands Forum in assisting the affected countries, in particular through its Regional Disaster Relief Fund; 16. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission, and the Secretaries-General of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Pacific Islands Forum and the Cariforum. EN EN 4 .