43rd Session of the FAO Conference - Roundtable 2: “Integrated Flood Risk Management” - Opening Remarks

 43^rd Session of the FAO Conference 

Roundtable 2: “Integrated Flood Risk Management” 

Opening Remarks

By

Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

Tuesday, 4 July 2023 (09.30 hours)

 

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Welcome to this High-Level Roundtable on Integrated Flood Risk Management.

 

Water is at the core of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, and is the theme of our Conference.

 

The world is facing severe water challenges.  Yesterday, we discussed water scarcity and droughts. This morning, we will focus on floods.

 

Floods are one of the most frequent, widespread and catastrophic disasters, with global losses of around 20 billion US Dollars in 2021. Over the past decades, floods have affected more than 2 billion people worldwide. In Africa, last year alone, over 2,000 people died in floods that hit around a dozen countries.

 

In Pakistan, the flood in 2022 put one third of the country under water, affected 33 million people, leading to 8 million displaced persons and more than 1700 lives lost- one third of them were children.

 

Those who work in agriculture are often the most vulnerable to losses. Floods threaten their livelihoods and wider food security. For this reason, it is critical that agricultural sectors use ecosystem-based solutions for flood management, working with natural water processes, rather than against them.

 

Agricultural land management, wetland storage, and other soil and water conservation practices can help reduce floods and their impacts, and provide the innovative solutions we are looking for to bring beneficial outcomes to sustainable development.

 

Farmers in Viet Nam, for example, used trash fish caught in the flood season as feeds for cultured fish, enhancing their food security.

 

Following such examples, we need to rethink agricultural flood management in an integrated and holistic way, to bring benefits and reduce damage. Working with nature can turn flood water into resources for economies, society and the environment.

 

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Flood risk management has evolved over the past decades based on lessons learned, and FAO has produced a Technical Report on Integrated Flood Risk Management based on these lessons. The report finds that the main points of good flood risk management include:

 

One: managing and reducing exposure to flood hazards;

Two: reducing vulnerability and building coping capacity;

Three: reducing flood impacts on those exposed; and

Four: managing flood risks through better governance.

 

It is important to look not just at urban flood risk, but also at rural agricultural areas. Rural communities are often not well supported by infrastructure and live in vulnerable situations, putting them at a disadvantage compared to the urban population.

 

We must manage floods better. New risks must be prevented. Existing risks must be reduced. Resilience must be increased to build back better after a flood.

 

To do all this, we need to improve management of the whole flood risk system, by strengthening governance and investment to implement integrated actions, and developing inclusive policies and plans that leave no one behind.

 

But floods should not be viewed in isolation. Today, many countries face both water scarcity and floods during different seasons or years. We must understand the linkage between the different water challenges and the agricultural sector, and develop integrated policies to achieve food security.

 

With the three Roundtables being held during this Conference, FAO is focusing on the “big picture”. FAO is committed to continue drawing on its broad technical expertise to find innovative solutions.

 

To achieve our shared goals, we must unite all sectors to co-create, co-design and co-advocate solutions for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all.

 

Thank you.