Briefing on the Humanitarian Consequences of El Niño and the Need for Urgent Action [Video: 1:47]
Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien
New York, 7 January 2016
Briefing Transcript: https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/USG%20OBrien%20Briefing%20to%20MS%207%20January%202016.pdf

Excerpt
I’m very grateful to you for being here today for the briefing on the humanitarian consequences of the El Nino phenomenon. As you know, El Nino is already having a devastating effect on many parts of the world.

We are here today to re-sound the alarm.

And we are here to spur a collective response to the humanitarian suffering caused by changes in weather patterns linked to El Niño, and to take action now to mitigate its effects.

If we act now, we will save lives and livelihoods, and prevent an even more serious humanitarian emergency from taking hold.

In some regions, millions of people are already facing food insecurity caused by drought related to El Niño. In other parts of the world, we have a short window of opportunity now to prepare for what we know will happen within months. In both cases, we must act together and we must act quickly.

As we will soon hear from our colleague from the World Meteorological Organization, the strength of the current El Niño has put our world into uncharted territory. El Niño itself is not caused by climate change, but the fact that it is taking place in a changed climate means that its impacts are less predictable, and could be more severe.

El Niño is likely to decline in strength in January 2016, but this does not mean that the danger has passed. El Niño and a possible subsequent La Niña event will continue to affect different parts of the world at different times with a mix of above- or below average rainfall. The impacts, especially on food insecurity, may last as long as two years.

I am particularly concerned about a number of countries spread across Central and South America, the Pacific region, and East and South Africa…

…By the nature of its scale, its slow onset and the early warning afforded to us by reliable scientific analysis, El Niño poses a critical test to our global humanitarian system in two fundamental areas.

Firstly, El Niño tests our commitment to early action, which was re-affirmed after the devastating Horn of Africa drought of 2011. The warning signs are there. Are we prepared to act on them? Do we collectively make the resources available now on the basis of these firm clues—known on scientific evidence and experience to be lead indicators—or do we wait for the proof of these facts of a crisis, of course then rapidly a humanitarian and massive crisis, and donors’ money coming to the rescue in the end? Are the politicians in donor countries prepared to risk their taxpayers cash before that proof? Can we make the investments in preparedness and early response that we know to be far less costly in human and economic terms than waiting until the full scale of disaster is upon us?

Secondly, El Niño challenges our commitment to joint action between humanitarian and development actors, and between the international community and national and local governments. Are we able to forge the partnerships necessary to focus development efforts on the most vulnerable? Can we work together to build the resilience of people and communities and prevent them from falling into humanitarian need? If we are to save lives and reduce suffering, of course we must answer ’yes’ to all of these questions…