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The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC region, with its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, is prone to various natural disasters such as powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and frequent tropical cyclones including Category 5 hurricanes or typhoons. Additionally, the area experiences temperature fluctuations in the Pacific Ocean that result in El Ni?o and La Ni?a phenomena, which can worsen with climate change.
Natural calamities like the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in China, the 2010 Chilean Earthquake, and the devastating earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan serve as crucial reminders of the significance of APEC's emergency preparedness efforts.
Initiated by Senior Officials at APEC in 2005 as the APEC Task Force for Emergency Preparedness TFEP, it was elevated to an Emergency Preparedness Working Group EPWG in 2010 following its increased importance. This group enhance capacities among member economies so they can better manage, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and natural disasters.
The EPWG works towards building business resilience and fostering public-private partnerships to safeguard communities agnst disruptions. It promotes knowledge sharing and technology exchange on disaster risk reduction to improve regional capabilities in this field.
The working group's efforts focus on strengthening coordination among member states through collaborative research, information dissemination, best practice exchanges in emergency management. The goal is to enhance cooperation among members while integrating the best practices for disaster prevention and preparedness.
In response to the escalating frequency, magnitude, and impacts of natural disasters disrupting trade flow and posing significant threats to growth sustnability and inclusivity in the Asia-Pacific region since 2015, APEC leaders established the APEC Disaster Reduction Risk Framework DRRF. This framework addresses concerns over persistent disasters that are now considered part of 'the new normal'.
This 'new normal' encompasses two mn phenomena: escalating natural disaster occurrences, magnitudes, and impacts, alongside disruptions to integrated regional production and supply chns. Such disruptions result in substantial losses estimated at over $100 billion annually for the past decade across APEC member economies.
In 2016, an additional task was assigned to the EPWG regarding the development of the APEC Disaster Risk Reduction Action Plan DRRAP, which outlines collaborative efforts, specific areas to focus on, and strategies to reduce disaster risks in the region.
To support these efforts, resources such as publications, projects, meeting documents, and centers for capacity building have been developed by the EPWG.
The goal is to enable continuous knowledge sharing within APEC member economies so that they can respond more effectively to disasters and build stronger preparedness systegether.
The Asia-Pacific region, bordering the Pacific Ring of Fire, is consistently challenged with various natural disasters like powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, frequent tropical cyclones classified as Category 5 hurricanes or typhoons, and temperature variations in the Pacific Ocean that lead to El Ni?o and La Ni?a phenomena, which can intensify due to climate change.
Natural disasters such as the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, the significant Sichuan Earthquake in China in 2008, the substantial Chilean Earthquake of 2010, and earthquakes affecting New Zealand and Japan highlight the crucial role of APEC's emergency preparedness efforts.
Initiated by Senior Officials at APEC as the Task Force for Emergency Preparedness TFEP in 2005, it was promoted to an Emergency Preparedness Working Group EPWG in 2010 due to its increased significance. The EPWG seeks to enhance capacities among member economies' capabilities of managing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies and natural disasters.
The EPWG increase business resilience by fostering public-private partnerships that protect communities agnst disruptions through the promotion of knowledge sharing and technology exchange on disaster risk reduction improvement.
Efforts are focused on strengthening coordination among members via collaborative research, information dissemination, best practice exchanges in emergency management. The objective is to enhance cooperation among members while incorporating the best practices for disaster prevention and preparedness.
Given concerns over persistent disasters now constituting part of 'the new normal' since 2015 within APEC member economies, which involve escalating natural disaster occurrences, magnitudes, impacts alongside disruptions to integrated regional production and supply chns that result in substantial losses estimated at $100 billion annually for the past decade.
In addition to this, an additional task was given to the EPWG regarding the development of the APEC Disaster Risk Reduction Action Plan DRRAP, which outlines collaborative efforts with specific areas of focus and strategies to mitigate disaster risks regionally.
For support in these eavors, various resources like publications, projects, meeting documents, and capacity-building centers have been created by the EPWG.
Our goal is to ensure continuous knowledge sharing within APEC member economies so they can more effectively respond to disasters and build stronger preparedness systegether.
This article is reproduced from: https://www.apec.org/groups/som-steering-committee-on-economic-and-technical-cooperation/working-groups/emergency-preparedness
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APEC Emergency Preparedness Efforts Asia Pacific Natural Disasters Management Disaster Reduction Action Plan Development Enhanced Capacity in Risk Mitigation Public Private Partnerships for Safety Regional Cooperation Against Catastrophes