Romania
Fourteenth Session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development
Statement by
H.E. Mr. Silvian Ionescu,
State Secretary,
Ministry of Environment and Waters Management
of Romania
New York, 11 May 2006
Check against delivery
2
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Romania, as an acceding country, associates herself with the statement
delivered earlier on behalf of the European Union by H.E. Mr. Joseph Pröll,
Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management
of Austria. I shall therefore make only a few complementary points and stick to
the time limits imparted to us.
Mr. Chairman,
A thorough debate over the climate changes and their influences over the
sustainable development of our countries has been of focal point for the
discussions of these two weeks of meetings.
Under this frame I have chosen on behalf of my country to inform you over the
latest consequences of climate changes in Romania, that is the last two years of
floods, whilst on the screen you can follow images of the peculiar events we
passed through.
In 2005, there were 7 waves of floods in Romania, distributed over the whole
country in all its 11 water basins; from early spring to late fall almost all of them
due to torrents and rapids formed in unusual ways, locations and time of the
3
year. We identified as main causes of the floods: the sudden melting of the
mountain snow due to global warming; the rainfalls in overwhelming excess in
short periods of time (e.g. in Timisoara, on an area of about 5,000 sq. km., three
repeated rainfalls of more than 80 ltrs/sqm/h. within the month of May); 3
tornados, a phenomenon unknown to Romania until last year; mountain rapids
formed mainly in areas where illegal wood chopping took place or gravel pits
where digged close to bridges; inside river flows with capacities 50 times higher
than the average.
As a result, more than 10.000 families remained homeless for several months
and only state emergency aids and private contributions could help them rebuild
the houses until the end of the year.
Aid has also come this month from the European Union to mend and consolidate
structural housing damages.
This year the main problem has been the Danube, with the sudden melting of
snow in all the 8 riverane states, entering in Romania on 13 April with a historical
maximum flow capacity of more than 15.600 cm/sec. and maintaining this volume
for more than two weeks, phenomenon unrecorded in the last 100 years.
4
The dam works built back in the 70s, in a total length of 1,100 km., from earth
structures, did not resist to the pressure of the water in lo ng periods of more than
25 days, and collapsed in some cases.
Rapid interventions limited the effects of the disaster to less than 2,500 houses
flooded. Private fundraising actions are already in place, and the Government of
Romania granted the funds for building materials to those in need.
Aside from the endorsement of the environmental law that has been very
thoroughly applied, up to penal prosecution in courts in more than 100 cases, my
Government?s general conclusions over these meteo and hydro phenomenon
are:
- we can call the Romanian Government?s action a success as no human
casualty has occurred during these 2 years heavy floods;
- it takes very strong mechanisms of control and decisive Best Available
Techniques (B.A.T.) implementation in the permitting activity in order to succeed
the maintenance of less than 2 ° C increase of global temperature by the end of
the century;
- although by the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms, Romania is a recipient country,
the whole sector of fossil energy production can and will be upgrade or, in some
cases, even be closed by 2018;
- man?s brutal intervention in the nature, as in the case of artificially damming the
river Danube should stop, and the flooding river bed renatured, as well as the
Danube Delta;
- on an international level, in order to better coordinate all our efforts on the
environmental issues, my country as recently declared in Dubai by our Minister of
Environment and Waters Management, H.E. Mrs. Sulfina Barbu, is sustaining
France?s initiative for a specialized environmental body of the United Nations.
These, we think, will be the best contributions on the topic of climate changes of
the Government of Romania to the achievement of the Millenium Development
Goals which we all consider to be best future for our children and our children?s
children.
Thank you.
Development
Statement by
H.E. Mr. Silvian Ionescu,
State Secretary,
Ministry of Environment and Waters Management
of Romania
New York, 11 May 2006
Check against delivery
2
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Romania, as an acceding country, associates herself with the statement
delivered earlier on behalf of the European Union by H.E. Mr. Joseph Pröll,
Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management
of Austria. I shall therefore make only a few complementary points and stick to
the time limits imparted to us.
Mr. Chairman,
A thorough debate over the climate changes and their influences over the
sustainable development of our countries has been of focal point for the
discussions of these two weeks of meetings.
Under this frame I have chosen on behalf of my country to inform you over the
latest consequences of climate changes in Romania, that is the last two years of
floods, whilst on the screen you can follow images of the peculiar events we
passed through.
In 2005, there were 7 waves of floods in Romania, distributed over the whole
country in all its 11 water basins; from early spring to late fall almost all of them
due to torrents and rapids formed in unusual ways, locations and time of the
3
year. We identified as main causes of the floods: the sudden melting of the
mountain snow due to global warming; the rainfalls in overwhelming excess in
short periods of time (e.g. in Timisoara, on an area of about 5,000 sq. km., three
repeated rainfalls of more than 80 ltrs/sqm/h. within the month of May); 3
tornados, a phenomenon unknown to Romania until last year; mountain rapids
formed mainly in areas where illegal wood chopping took place or gravel pits
where digged close to bridges; inside river flows with capacities 50 times higher
than the average.
As a result, more than 10.000 families remained homeless for several months
and only state emergency aids and private contributions could help them rebuild
the houses until the end of the year.
Aid has also come this month from the European Union to mend and consolidate
structural housing damages.
This year the main problem has been the Danube, with the sudden melting of
snow in all the 8 riverane states, entering in Romania on 13 April with a historical
maximum flow capacity of more than 15.600 cm/sec. and maintaining this volume
for more than two weeks, phenomenon unrecorded in the last 100 years.
4
The dam works built back in the 70s, in a total length of 1,100 km., from earth
structures, did not resist to the pressure of the water in lo ng periods of more than
25 days, and collapsed in some cases.
Rapid interventions limited the effects of the disaster to less than 2,500 houses
flooded. Private fundraising actions are already in place, and the Government of
Romania granted the funds for building materials to those in need.
Aside from the endorsement of the environmental law that has been very
thoroughly applied, up to penal prosecution in courts in more than 100 cases, my
Government?s general conclusions over these meteo and hydro phenomenon
are:
- we can call the Romanian Government?s action a success as no human
casualty has occurred during these 2 years heavy floods;
- it takes very strong mechanisms of control and decisive Best Available
Techniques (B.A.T.) implementation in the permitting activity in order to succeed
the maintenance of less than 2 ° C increase of global temperature by the end of
the century;
- although by the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms, Romania is a recipient country,
the whole sector of fossil energy production can and will be upgrade or, in some
cases, even be closed by 2018;
- man?s brutal intervention in the nature, as in the case of artificially damming the
river Danube should stop, and the flooding river bed renatured, as well as the
Danube Delta;
- on an international level, in order to better coordinate all our efforts on the
environmental issues, my country as recently declared in Dubai by our Minister of
Environment and Waters Management, H.E. Mrs. Sulfina Barbu, is sustaining
France?s initiative for a specialized environmental body of the United Nations.
These, we think, will be the best contributions on the topic of climate changes of
the Government of Romania to the achievement of the Millenium Development
Goals which we all consider to be best future for our children and our children?s
children.
Thank you.
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