A technology firm, Access Partnership, on Thursday released a Fair Tech Institute whitepaper leveraging satellite technology for more effective disaster management efforts in Africa and globally.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the “whitepaper”, is an informational document usually issued by a company or not-for-profit organization to promote or highlight the features of a solution, product, or service that it offers or plans to offer.
Ivan Suarez, senior policy manager at Access Partnership outlined the urgency with which governments and the private sectors need to leverage satellite technology for more effective disaster management efforts in Africa and globally.
Suarez said that to reduce the socioeconomic impact of climate-related disasters, governments were encouraged to increase investment in physical and social infrastructure.
He said that government should allow for the upscaling and acceleration of far-reaching, transformational adaptation strategies.
According to him, this includes the effective use of satellite networks and next-generation satellite technology.
The senior policy manager said that this whitepaper comes after organisations agreed that weather-related disasters were likely to become more frequent and widespread in coming years due to climate change.
Suarez highlighted the organisations as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, Vision of Humanity and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
He said that in the whitepaper, the increased frequency of natural disasters was set to overwhelm National Emergency Telecommunications Plans (NETPs) and terrestrial service providers.
Suarez said that putting in place satellite services and next-generation satellite-enabled connectivity could mean the difference between saving millions of lives and losing them.
He said that this move could also reduce government expenditure during and post-disaster.
According to him, providing unique data, the document forecasts the economic impact and future burden countries will face if disaster communications planning is not taken seriously.
“The impact of natural disasters will be concentrated among low- and middle-income countries, which are relatively less prepared to adapt.
‘’Providing unique data, the document forecasts the economic impact and future burden countries will face if disaster communications planning is not taken seriously.
“The impact of natural disasters will be concentrated among low- and middle-income countries, which are relatively less prepared to adapt,” Suarez said.
According to him, the paper shows that natural disasters currently cost the agricultural sector of these economies more than 108 billion dollars in damaged crops and livestock production.
He said that should the level of financing in climate adaptability remain low, the United Nations Environment Programme estimates climate change adaptation and natural disaster damages could cost developing countries.
Suarez said that the cost could be in a range of 280 billion dollars to 500 billion dollars per year by 2050.
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According to him, as shown by this study, we need a concerted effort to fix the underlying inefficiencies of our current, existing communication systems.
He said that the paper highlights that the availability of communication networks was directly related to the ability to respond quickly to emergencies.
Suarez said that the whitepaper emphasised the need for the development of emergency telecommunication plans (NETPs) given the crucial role telecoms can play in saving lives and protecting communities when disasters strike.
“Considering their unpreparedness to bear the financial costs and the need to protect human lives, collaborative efforts between governments and the private sector are urgently needed to maintain adequate NETPs.’
NAN also reports that the services that satellites can provide for disaster risk management and emergency response are weather forecasting, remote sensing, geo-positioning, navigation, television and telecommunication.
(NAN)
