Workshop on climate risk management strategies for Kolkata

LONDON, 16 February 2017 /PRNewswire Policy/ --

Excerpts of speech by British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata Bruce Bucknell at workshop on climate risk management strategies for Kolkata.

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure for me to be here at the workshop on climate risk management strategies for Kolkata. It is my first official visit to Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). And I must say that like my predecessors I am too very impressed by KMC's enthusiasm and genuine interest in embracing new concepts and emerging ideas when it comes to addressing climate vulnerability of this great city.

The UN estimates that there are 3,351 cities located in low-elevation coastal zones around the world. The top 10, in terms of population exposed to coastal flood hazard, are Mumbai, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Miami, Ho Chi Minh City, Kolkata, New York, Osaka-Kobe, Alexandria and New Orleans. The cities of Tokyo, New York, Mumbai, Shanghai, Kolkata and Buenos Aires are the most vulnerable to storm surge.

India is one of the world's most vulnerable countries. It has faced several types of extreme weather events in 2015 and 2016 - from floods to unseasonal rainfalls to deadliest heat-waves to snow storms. As per a report by Earth Security Group, India is incurring losses of about US $9-10 billion annually due to extreme weather incidents.

In 2015, the heaviest rainfall in over a century caused extreme flooding in Tamil Nadu leading to an estimated US$ 710 million in insurance claims.

Climate risks, as we all know, have the potential to severely dent urban systems and pose serious threats to urban infrastructure and importantly the life of citizens. This is especially true for cities like Kolkata that are more susceptible to the effects of climate risk which imposes both social and economic costs. Cyclone Aila, in 2009, left 150,000 people homeless and without livelihood in this part of West Bengal. Lloyd's City Risk Index has estimated that storms and floods will put a huge burden on Kolkata's GDP.

Many of you would be aware that under our UK-Kolkata Municipal Corporation Programme on low carbon and climate resilient Kolkata, PwC and TARU conducted a GIS-based and ground level survey to assess the level of climate risks the city is exposed to and came up with a Climate-Induced Disaster Management Plan for the city. You will get a glimpse of this interesting management strategy later in the session when TARU presents key highlights and recommendations. There is one recommendation that I would like to mention here which is directly linked to this workshop today—and that is of climate risk insurance.

With a large urban poor population and majority of urban infrastructure exceedingly vulnerable to climate risks, it is important for cities to prepare for calamities and safeguard citizens and investments through innovative approaches. One such approach is the use of advanced climate modelling and risk assessment at the municipal level coupled with effective insurance tools built into the city's disaster recovery and relief schemes.

On climate modelling, we are exploring ways of using the expertise of UK Met Office.

And on risk assessment, we have undertaken this study with PWC to:

- understand the extent of climate risks faced by urban infrastructure in five pilot Indian cities - Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Patna and Kochi

- sensitise key stakeholders on the importance of and options for mitigating climate induced risks for infrastructure through risk insurance

This workshop is part of this endeavour.

We need to work together to strengthen resilient policies of cities against climatic events. We need to support and help each other to invest in risk reduction and introduce innovative steps and technologies to enable cities cope with disasters.

SOURCE UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office