-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list on environment-disaster linkages.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Charles Kelly
Sent: 05 December 2006 15:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The Cluster Approach and the Environment

The Cluster Approach and the Environment

As many are aware, the UN has established a "Cluster Approach" to improve
the coordination and provision of assistance following disasters. The
Inter-Agency Standing Committee issued an undated "Guidance Note on Using
the Cluster Approach to Strengthen Humanitarian Response" on 17 October
2006. The following text briefly discusses the integration of environment
into the "Cluster Approach" based on the latest version of the "Guidance
Note".

Both the Southeast Asia Tsunami and the South Asia Earthquake saw
proportionally greater attention paid to the environmental impacts of each
disaster, and of relief and recovery efforts, than in most previous large
scale disasters. Following the tsunami, disaster-related environmental
assessments were conducted and steps proposed to reduce the environmental
impact of relief and recovery activities.

However, reports indicate a number of wholly avoidable negative
environmental impacts occurred as a result of tsunami relief and recovery
activities. One reason for the failure to prevent negative impacts was the
poor integration of environmental issues into mainstream relief and
recovery.

Environmental issues received proportionally greater attention in Pakistan
following the South Asia earthquake, in large part because of proactive
efforts by environmental NGOs based in the country. However, issues related
to avoidable negative environmental impact have also arisen in Pakistan, in
part because of a lack of clarity as to where the environment sat in terms
of relief and recovery operations. (Note that the government's
post-earthquake reconstruction effort includes a unit devoted to
environmental issues, but this unit was not operational during the first
months after the disaster.)

Pakistan was also the launch of a neo-cluster approach to the coordination
of humanitarian aid. At the time of the earthquake, the cluster concept had
been accepted by the UN, but the implementation modalities had not been
worked out. Pakistan became a cluster learning-by-doing experience. One
lesson learned was that is was hard for the clusters to deal effectively
with cross-cutting issues (of which the environment is the most
cross-cutting).

Clusters are divided into three areas:
(1) Technical: Nutrition, Health, Water/Sanitation, Emergency Shelter.
(2) Cross-cutting: Camp Coordination/Management, Protection and Early
Recovery, and
(3) Common Service: Logistics and Emergency Telecommunications.

There is no environment cluster. Instead, the Humanitarian Coordinator and
OCHA are tasked with ensuring that the environment is "effectively addressed
in all sectors", along with age, diversity, gender, HIV/AIDS, and human
rights. The "Sector Heads" are also tasked with ensuring cross-cutting
issues are integrated into cluster activities. The discussion of
cross-cutting issues notes "Experience in recent crisis suggests that these
important dimensions to ensuring appropriate responses have too frequently
been ignored".

The good news is that:
-	The environment is on the official list of things to be considered
by the Humanitarian Coordinator and cluster heads,
-	The environment's importance in ".ensuring appropriate." response is
noted, and
- 	The fact that this importance has been ignored in the past is also
noted.

The bad news is that it remains unclear how environment will be effectively
integrated into cluster operations. There will probably remain a strong
tendency to treat the environment as a "tomorrow" issue, that is, one that
can be put off until tomorrow. This has been past practice, and largely
effective at creating more future environmental problems than necessary.

An option is to place an "Environmental Advisor" at the level of the
Humanitarian Coordinator. While useful in advocating and defining broad
policy, such a position would be more of someone who attends meetings and
conducts broad scale advocacy rather than involvement with actual
operations. Two useful services this advisor could perform are to:
1) Ensure cluster policy documents give adequate attention to environmental
issues, as was done for the transitional shelter effort in Sri Lanka, and,
2) Pursue a polite blame-and-shame approach when projects or programs are
clearly untenable from an environmental perspective.

A complementary option is to place "Environmental Advisors" within each
cluster as support to the cluster coordinator (who will likely have little
time to devote to cross-cutting issues). These individuals would focus on:
1) Practical ways to implement environmentally positive policies set at the
Humanitarian Coordinator level, and,
2) Operational advocacy for environmentally wise relief and recovery
activities.

The objective is not to just attend a lot of cluster meeting, but have
someone who also spends time with cluster members in the field working out
how to accomplish environmentally sound relief and recovery efforts. One
Environmental Advisor could conceivably handle more than one cluster, as in
the case of logical groupings such as shelter and camp management or health
and water and sanitation.

The persons filling either position would need both a good understanding of
environmental issues and of the limits and opportunities presented in relief
and recovery. Since cross-overs between environment and humanitarian
assistance are rare, finding qualified individuals could be a challenge.
This suggests a need to train-up a cadre of individuals who could fulfill
the functions noted above. Since there is, as yet, no
environment-and-humanitarian assistance NGO or UN agency, finding a home for
developing and deploying this expertise is an immediate challenge.

While the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit could fill this function, their
current mandate is normally limited to the first weeks of a disaster. The
Environmental Advisors would need to be in place early in a disaster and
continue service until normal environmental review and management procedures
are re-established. As demonstrated in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, continuity in
the attention given to environmental issues is important in avoiding
negative environmental impacts while designing or implementing post-disaster
aid.

In summary, the good news with the Cluster Approach is that the environment
remains a topic to be including in humanitarian operations. The challenge is
to find the right mechanism to ensure the environment is not treated as
something which can be put off until tomorrow. While an approach to improve
attention to environmental issues has been outlined, it remains unclear who
will initiate and support these efforts.

C. Kelly, Email: [log in to unmask] REA Project,
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?openForm.

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