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NGI signs agreement with China on prevention of natural disasters

Date: 8/12/2008

Deputy Director General Dr. Zhang Hongtao from the China Geological Survey (CGS) and Managing Director Dr. Suzanne Lacasse from NGI, signed on 11th August 2008 an agreement on 'Cooperation for Mitigation of Geohazards'.


Deputy Director General Dr. Zhang Hongtao from the China Geological Survey (CGS) and Managing Director Dr. Suzanne Lacasse from NGI.

The agreement was signed at NGI's office in Oslo, in connection with CGS' delegation participating in the 33rd International Geology Congress (IGC) in Lillestrøm. The project, which has a frame of USD one million over 3 years, is supported in equal proportion by China and Norway. The Norwegian effort is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The project is a follow-up of a successful seminar that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held in Beijing 12th-13th March 2008 in cooperation with the Norwegian Embassy in China and the National Disaster Centre of China. The seminar was  on the prevention of natural disasters with emphasis on floods, landslides, climate change and experiences with emergency preparedness.

The CGS delegation together with the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NGI.

 

 

The seminar brought CGS and NGI together and has now resulted in the new project. Senior adviser Bjørn Johannessen in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was the driving force in arranging the seminar in Beijing in March 2008, also participated at the lunch arranged at NGI to mark the signature of the agreement.

Themes such as mapping of high risk landslide areas and implementation of measures to avoid large catastrophes are part of the project. China is, for example, highly competent on early warning of slides. With offensive measures, China has, in the period 1998-2007, managed to reduce the human losses from slides from 1500 to 700 per year.

In terms of regulations and implementation of land use planning to avoid new settlements in high risk landslide areas, Norway, in turn, has wide experience. The China Geological Survey is a resourceful organization with 6500 employees. The organization has a broad mandate that includes both the mapping of geohazards and implementation of preventive and mitigation measures.

NGI's Deputy Managing Director, Oddvar Kjekstad, and Project Manager Dr. Anders Solheim, have been key personnel in the lead up and planning of the project. The project is expected to start in November this year.

At the invitation of the Chinese, the first project meeting will be in China. Inspection of damage and evaluation of on-going and planned  reconstruction efforts following  the many slides triggered by the Wenchuan Earthquake on13th May 2008, are likely to be priority subjects.