New Water Policy and Practice Volume 1, Number 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 63
Integrated Flood Risk Management, Lessons from the Rhine and Danube for South Asia
Integrated Flood Risk Management in Europe
T
he European Commission’s Communication on ‘The Post 2015 Hyogo
Framework for Action: Managing Risks to achieve Resilience’ states that
current policy responses are insufficient in effectively addressing existing
risks of natural disasters including flooding as the effects of the changing climate
and continued environmental degradation will lead to more intense and frequent
flooding, and climate change is a threat multiplier for instability, conflict, and state
fragility leading to migration and displacement, weak governance, and geo-political
instability (European Commission 2014). Conflicts and fragility also further affect
the vulnerability to disasters. Economies are globalised and increasingly structured
around complex global supply chains which are vulnerable to flood risks: The 2011
Floods in Thailand lead to an economic shock that rippled out to economies and
businesses on the other side of the world.
In Europe there is a long tradition of cooperation and vast experience and
knowledge of managing transboundary rivers in a sustainable manner, necessary as
60% of the EU’s territ