Context

Joint media release

• Senator the Hon. Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs

• The Hon. Stephen Smith MP, Minister for Defence

• The Hon. Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Special Minister of State, Attorney General, Minister for Emergency Management, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity

1 April 2013

Australia has become a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions with legislation commencing today (April 1, 2013) making it an offence in Australia to develop, keep or transfer land mines or cluster munitions.

In this Climate Update, highlights include:

· Between 9 and 11 named Tropical Cyclones were forecast for the 2012 / 2013 South Pacific tropical cyclone season. 3 named Tropical Cyclones have occurred in the South Pacific so far.

· 11 Tropical Depressions have formed in the South Pacific since the beginning of the Tropical Cyclone Season.

· In the South Pacific, one Tropical Depression increased in intensity to Category 3 (Tropical Cyclone Garry) and two to Category 4 (Tropical Cyclone Evan and Freda).

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has dispatched emergency relief supplies to the Republic of Palau in response to the damages caused by the typhoon.

1. The government of the Republic of Korea has decided to provide some 50,000 US dollars in humanitarian assistance to Palau that sustained enormous damage from Typhoon Bopha on December 3.

• The typhoon left 92 housing structures totaled and another 59 partially destroyed, displacing 350 people.

1. The aforementioned contribution will be used to provide relief supplies to victims through the Palau Red Cross.

   Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

• unofficial translation

Typhoon Bopha has left more than 130,000 people seeking shelter in evacuation centres, Red Cross is providing emergency relief across the southern Philippines.

Australian Red Cross CEO, Robert Tickner, said the humanitarian consequences of Typhoon Bopha are worse than was originally thought in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Assessment teams under the coordination of National Emergencey Management Office (NEMO) conducted an Initial Damage Assessment (IDA) of 666 residences in 6 affected states. Initial results indicate 112 houses completely damaged and 136 houses with major damages. Also, two schools in Ngaraard suffered serious damages. This map shows these locations with charts and tables stating number and scale of damages.

Updated 11 December 2012, 17:50 AEST

It's just over a week since Typhoon Bopha swept through the Palau island chain on its destructive path towards the Philippines.

Audio: Large scale reconstruction efforts underway in typhoon damaged Palau

No casualties occurred, but the southern islands were badly affected.

The authorities have assessed the damaged and a big relief effort is underway.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting on December 2, Typhoon Bopha—known as Pablo in the Philippines— tracked south of the Republic of Palau (RoP) and across the Philippines, bringing winds of up to Category 5 strength and causing widespread damage.

USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) deployed several staff members to the Philippines, RoP, and Guam to track the storm as it moved through the region, coordinate assistance efforts, and conduct assessments in affected areas.