The European Commission launched a new proposal (COM 2009/82) to strengthen disaster prevention capacities and increase cooperation with developing countries.  In addition to natural disasters triggered partly by climate change,  manmade disasters such as oil spills and radioactive contamination, threaten the environment and health. The EU proposal should improve EU’s  ability to deal wiht disasters before, during and after the event. After the Hurricane Katrina the US Katrina Panel Order was adopted that states that local exchange carriers ‘must have an emergency backup power source for all assets necessary to maintain communications that are normally powered from local commercial power’.
Furthermore, the Order states that telecoms operators must ‘maintain
emergency backup power for a minimum of 24 hours’. The Katrina Panel Order has facilitated a great market incentive for fuel cells. In June 2009 the Commission will propose specific actions to follow up on these strategies The EHA will inform lawmakers of the opportunity for clean technology application deployment if specifci meausres are included in the EU’ s future disaster strategy.