Environmental Emergencies: Events

 

This year the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit (JEU) will be holding the Fourth Environmental Emergency Response Training in Spiez, Switzerland from 16-20 April, 2012.  The upcoming training will be co-hosted by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation/Humanitarian Aid (SDC) and the Swedish Civil Contingency Agency (MSB) with private sector participation by Veolia Environment Foundation.  Participation is limited to the invitations provided by hosting countries and agencies.

 

Environmental Emergency Training exercises aim to strengthen the knowledge, skills and understanding of environmental experts and enable them to respond more effectively in difficult environments throughout the entirety of the emergency mission cycles of preparedness, mobilization, operations, demobilization and post-mission.  The most recent example of where this knowledge is being utilized is in the recent series of explosions occurring on 4 March at an ammunitions depot near Brazzaville, leaving at least 200 dead and an estimated 1,500 seriously injured. A four-member UNDAC team was deployed by OCHA to the Republic of Congo to undertake a comprehensive site assessment, which will include sampling and analysis to determine possible exposure. The blast destroyed houses, buildings and transportation infrastructure and has scattered unexploded ordnances and possible contaminants into the surrounding area. 

The trainings comprise a series of classroom sessions taught by experts, as well as an all-day field simulation exercise, which provides a demonstrative environment to what is faced by environmental emergency responders before, during and after their deployment. These trainings familiarize environmental responders with key international environmental response tools and resources such as: