World Bank: Hurricanes don’t know borders. Neither does a pandemic.
In the field of disaster risk management, when a new risk appears in an already risky situation, we call it a compound risk. The COVID-19 pandemic means communities need to prepare even more thoroughly for disasters, as resources are limited or have been reallocated to respond to the health crisis. In simple terms, the economic and health impacts of COVID-19 are making already-disaster-prone countries more vulnerable than ever before.

U.S. flood strategy shifts to ‘unavoidable’ relocation of entire neighbourhoods
Using tax dollars to move whole communities out of flood zones, an idea long dismissed as radical is swiftly becoming policy, marking a new and more disruptive phase of climate change.

Scientists drove radars inside Hurricane Laura’s fiercest winds, hoping to unravel their mysteries
The scientists’ goal? Capture ultra-detailed radar scans from the inside of Laura, probing the tempest in a way that traditional Doppler radar simply couldn’t. The team was particularly interested in Hurricane Laura’s eyewall, the unbroken ring of extreme winds and rain surrounding the storm’s eerily calm eye.

Tackling the Environmental Crisis Can Boost the Economy Says WEF Report
Entitled ‘The Future of Nature and Business’, the report warns that when the world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic there can be no business-as-usual, with today’s destruction of the natural world-threatening over half of global GDP.

How can the UN help prevent another Beirut disaster?
The devastation caused by the Beirut explosions on 4 August has focused attention on the risks involved in the transportation and storage of dangerous goods around the world. The UN is at the forefront of international efforts to reduce these risks and save lives.

Community-based response to the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of South Asian community in Auckland, New Zealand
This policy brief is based on the survey of the South Asian community living in New Zealand and their coping with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impact. The findings of this survey may also be useful for other ethnic groups. Understanding the impact of a pandemic on ethnic minority groups is important to better prepare for transition and recovery strategies, and build community resilience. The brief concludes that capacity building and community cohesion are therefore essential to prepare the population for a possible future re-emergence of the pandemic outbreak

World Economic Forum: The future of nature and business
This report lays out in practical terms what needs to be done to achieve this new future, by laying out a pragmatic framework for the industry to lead the transition towards a nature-positive economy. According to the authors, this is a path that can provide a win-win for nature, people and business. It can unlock an estimated $10 trillion of business opportunities by transforming economic systems that are responsible for almost 80% of nature loss.

You’ll Be Surprised How Often You Actually Touch Your Face​
Coronavirus has made people more aware of personal hygiene, but there are still many unhygienic things you probably don’t know you’re doing. One is just how often you touch your face — an activity that happens far more frequently than you might think.

ESCAP: Investing in innovative solutions to manage cascading disaster risks: Key takeaways for stakeholders
This issue brief on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) focuses on the innovations which are protecting communities from cascading hazards, the challenges, and opportunities therein, and offers policy guidance to shape the future management of cascading hazards.

An integrated approach to sustainable development, National Resilience, and COVID-19 responses: The case of Japan
The aim of the paper is to review whether the Japanese governments’ responses in terms of financial stimulus considers longer-term resilience and sustainability. This paper reviews pertinent academic literature and publicly available data from governments and organisations.

Psychological distress and state boredom during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: the role of meaning in life and media use
Epidemics are associated with increased burden of psychological distress. However, the role of boredom on mental health during epidemic periods has seldom been explored. This study attempted to examine the effect of state boredom on psychological outcomes, and the role of media use and meaning in life among the indirectly exposed Chinese adults in the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak.

WMO Data Conference (Virtual Conference) – 16 Nov-19 Nov
The WMO Data Conference aims to develop a common understanding among entities from all sectors of society of the roles, requirements and arrangements for the international exchange of observations and other data for monitoring and prediction of the Earth System environment, including weather, climate and water.

2020 Asia Pacific Science and Technology Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction – 15 Oct
Malaysia will host the 2020 Asia-Pacific Science and Technology Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (eAPSTCDRR) virtually on 15 October 2020, in partnership with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s (UNDRR) Asia Pacific Science Technology and Academia Advisory Group (APSTAAG).

ICSD 2020: 8th international conference on sustainable development – 9-10 Sept
The International Conference on Sustainable Development is organised by the European Center of Sustainable Development in collaboration with CIT University. The 8th ICSD 2020 is inspired by the critical challenge of human, environmental, and economic sustainability concerning the present and future generations in a global-scale context.

Loss and damage – research, policy and lived experience in least developed countries – 8 Sept
The IIED and ICCCAD will host a webinar featuring least developed countries’ national experts sharing their research and lived experience of loss and damage. The discussion aims to ensure that loss and damage remains a priority issue in the lead up to COP2.

Protecting our Most Vulnerable- Disaster Impact Assessment for the Rohingya Refugee Community, Thursday 17th Sept
In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya people fled their home country of Myanmar to escape the horrific ethnic cleansing they faced for being Muslim. They settled in the southeast of Bangladesh, joining 250,000 Rohingya already living there. Now, more than one million Rohingya inhabit the largest refugee camp in the world, with no sign of a return home in the near future. United Nations Development Programme engaged Tonkin + Taylor International to develop a multi-hazards impact model for the Rohingya refugees and surrounding host communities.

Making Cities Resilient: Developing and implementing local disaster risk reduction strategy to respond to COVID-19 and to better prepare for the future 8 Sept-6 October
The aim of this training is to strengthen an understanding on making cities resilient and to provide a suite of tools to develop an evidence-based local disaster risk reduction planning with multi-stakeholder engagement and in alignment with the national DRR strategies and Sendai Framework.

UNDRR Sendai Hazards Report Launched
“We believe the report, which classifies over 300 types of hazard across the extended range of risk identified in the Sendai Framework, namely natural and man-made hazards, as well as related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks, will be an important stepping stone for the international community to achieve sustainable development within the increasingly complex, interconnected and systemic risk landscape”, says head of UNDRR Mami Mizutori.

An update from Mami Mizutori, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction — 30 July 2020
Mami Mizutori, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, shares an update on response, recovery, prevention, partnering and sharing, and advocacy.

UNDRR: Haiti approves a new Risk and Disaster Management Plan
In an important step towards creating a more resilient region and better prepared to face disasters, the Government of the Republic of Haiti approved the National Risk and Disaster Management Plan 2019-2030, a result of an inclusive, multisectoral and participative process.

New Zealand’s White Island is likely to erupt violently again, but a new alert system could give hours of warning and save lives
Tourists visiting Whakaari/White Island on December 9 last year had no warning of its imminent violent eruption. The tragedy prompted the development of an early alert system from David Dempsey and Shane Cronin from the University of Auckland. Their research shows patterns of seismic activity before an eruption that make advance warning possible.

New Open Access Timely Data Portal Launched
In partnership with Esri and National Geographic Society, SDGs Today: The Global Hub for Real-Time SDG Data, is a new data platform developed by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). This one-of-a-kind open access data platform aims to provide a snapshot of the state of sustainable development around the world right now, while enabling users to access and engage with timely data on sustainable development, obtain GIS training and resources, and learn how to use the data effectively to drive action on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its set of 17 SDGs. All datasets were curated and validated by SDSN’s Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReNDS).

UNDRR: Hazard definition and classification review
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (‘the Sendai Framework’) was one of three landmark agreements adopted by the United Nations in 2015. The other two being the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The UNDRR/ISC Sendai Hazard Definition and Classification Review Technical Report supports all three by providing a common set of hazard definitions for monitoring and reviewing implementation which calls for “a data revolution, rigorous accountability mechanisms and renewed global partnerships”.

International Science Council Hazard Definition & Classification Review: Technical Review
Supported by the Integrated Research for Disaster Risk (IRDR) programme of the ISC, a dedicated technical working group which brought together scientists, technical UN agencies and other experts from the private sector and civil society developed a detailed report including six targeted recommendations.

First national climate change risk assessment for New Zealand
New Zealand’s first national climate change risk assessment has identified 10 significant areas that need to be urgently addressed in the next six years to reduce their impacts. The risk assessment is an overview of how New Zealand may be affected by climate change-related hazards, and will be used to develop a national adaptation plan over the next two years.

ISC Webinar: Launch of a new scientific report on hazards definition
The UNDRR-ISC Sendai Hazard Definition and Classification Review Technical Report was officially launched online on 29 July 2020. This webinar launched and presented the detailed report, including six targeted recommendations.

Using Mobile Data For Health Monitoring: A Case Study of Data Sharing
A new case study from SDSN TReNDS documents a data collaboration between the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Vodafone Ghana, and Flowminder. The collaboration enabled the GSS to access insights from mobile phone data to plan public health and sustainable development policies, and it is a useful example of how a government and a private company were able to work with an intermediary partner to gain insights from sensitive data. The mobile data being used by the GSS as a result of the collaboration has proven especially valuable during the current COVID-19 pandemic to document the impact of restriction measures in Ghana.

United Nations comprehensive response to COVID-19: Saving lives, protecting societies, recovering better​
The overview recounts the UN’s key guidance, lessons and support so far – and points the way to the crucial steps that must follow to save lives, protect societies and recover better. It amounts to a recipe for a comprehensive response to and recovery from COVID-19 that will leave no one behind and address the very fragilities and gaps that made us so vulnerable to the pandemic in the first place.

Webinar – 11 Aug: Create resilient communities with medium-range hazard warning systems
Early warning systems are a major component in disaster risk reduction. Despite forecasting system advances, hydro-meteorological and geo-hazards continue to claim thousands of lives, while wreaking irreparable damage upon homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. Key issues to be discussed include policy + political issues, ensemble-based guidance and decision-making.

Webinar – 04-06 Aug – Climatological, Meteorological and Environmental factors in the COVID-19 pandemic
This international virtual symposium will help elucidate what is known, understood, and can be reliably predicted about environmental variables’ influence on the trajectory of the COVID-19 epidemic, from global, hemispheric, regional and local perspectives. Symposium outcomes will include a synthesis of the information presented and recommendations for further research at local to global scales.

Call for contributing papers: The UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022
The UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) is the flagship report of the United Nations on worldwide efforts to reduce disaster risk. The GAR main report is published every three years by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and is the product of the contributions by nations and public and private science and research partners, amongst others.

International Symposium “Global Collaboration on Data beyond Disciplines”, 23-25 Sept 2020; Presentation submission deadline: August 15​
The goal of this symposium is to build consensus on various aspects of research data management by all stakeholders in alignment with Open Research policies and initiatives. It will explore new paths for activities significant in promoting interdisciplinary and collaborative research and data reuse under different scientific disciplines based on evidence and feedback from data communities.

CODATA Webinar – 13 Aug: Thinking Reproducibility in Your Research Work
In this session, participants will be introduced to the landscape of reproducibility in scientific research and the main tools required for the implementation of reproducibility in their own research work. The session will present some case studies to highlight the issues being discussed.

28-30 Sept: 2020 Annual CAP Implementation Workshop
CAP Implementation Workshops focus on emergency alerting as enabled by the CAP standard, ITU-T Recommendation X.1303. At the Workshops, implementers of CAP and other associated organisations discuss common issues and how best to leverage the expanding adoption of CAP. At this 2020 Workshop, 21 presentations will address a wide range of topics, presented by experts from around the world.

WMO launches E-learning platform for hazard alerts
WMO has developed a set of E-learning resources and courses for the Common Alerting Protocol, which is an internationally-recognized standard for dissemination of warnings of extreme weather hazards to the public and to disaster management authorities.

COVID-19: Strengthening business resilience through peer-to-peer support
Almost three months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Americas and the Caribbean, data is showing how deeply the private sector has been affected, as some businesses are being forced to close while others are struggling to continue operating due to limitations in markets and supply chains.

How the World Bank is Mitigating the Impacts of COVID-19 in the Health Sector
The World Bank Group has been helping client countries respond to the global health, social, and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The scale and speed of the response has been critical in helping countries mitigate the adverse impacts of the crisis and prioritise the human capital investments that can accelerate recovery. Broadly, these operations focus on three priority areas.

Gender lens essential to addressing linked climate change and security crises urges joint UN report
A new report by the UNEP, UN Women, the UNDP, and the UNDPPA reveals the close links between gender, climate, and security, and shows that women on the frontlines of climate action are playing a vital role in conflict prevention and sustainable, inclusive peace.

Global partnership urges stronger preparation for hot weather during COVID-19
As the Northern Hemisphere enters what is expected to be another record-breaking heat season, a global network of health and climate experts supported by WMO have called for stronger preparation to keep people safe in hot weather without increasing the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

How can El Niño long-range warning systems provide real benefits?
Can the impacts of drought be minimised with an effective long-range warning system (LRWS)?

SDSN TReNDS Releases New Report on Data Sharing Agreements and Cross-Sector Data Collaboration
COVID-19 has generated new data demands and increased cross-sector data collaboration. Yet, these data collaborations require careful planning and evaluation of risks and opportunities. Data sharing agreements (DSAs) are written agreements that establish the terms for how data are shared between parties and are important for establishing accountability and trust. In a new report, Laying the Foundation for Effective Partnerships: An Examination of Data Sharing Agreements, SDSN TReNDS reviews their online library of DSAs and consider how six major issues, including data use, access, breaches, proprietary issues, publicisation of the analysis, and deletion of data are addressed in the agreements.

WWF – COVID-19: Urgent Call to Protect People and Nature
COVID-19: Urgent Call to Protect People and Nature shows that the key drivers for the emergence of zoonotic diseases are land-use change, expansion and the intensification of agriculture and animal production, and the consumption of high-risk wildlife. WWF urges governments, companies and individuals to tackle these key drivers and so create a healthier world for people and our planet.

Working with the environment to protect people: UNEP’s COVID-19 response
In this report, the UN Environment Programme lays out how it is adjusting its work in response to COVID-19 through supporting nations and partners to “build back better”.

UNDRR: Monitoring the Implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030: A Snapshot of Reporting for 2018
This report outlines how Member States are monitoring their implementation of the Sendai Framework. It is for the first time that an analysis is being published of the data that Member States have shared as part of the official global indicator system of the Sendai Framework comprising the seven targets and 38 indicators.

TechWeek Festival – Smart Resilient Cities: Cast and Converse (28 July + 30 July)
The Smart Resilient Cities Cast and Converse series is a share, learn, and networking opportunity to launch conversations about the macro trends and social innovations that are shaping our increasingly digital urban environments. There are two sessions focussing on Technology for Public Good – Session 1. Networking cities in a changing world: Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics (BDA) + Session 2.  What’s the potential for an Earthquake early-warning (EEW) system in Aotearoa, New Zealand?

Webinar – July 12 – July 15: 45th Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop
The 45th Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, will look at how we can maintain hope in this era of environmental extremes and how our communities can set an agenda for a resilient future.

Webinar: Climate risks and TCFD implementation: Focus on Middle East and Africa​
This two-part webinar organised by UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) will explore climate risks and opportunities, including the significance and impact of climate risks on financial institutions, with a focus on Middle East and Africa. Further, the webinar will cover a deep-dive on implementation of the Task-Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. This is the first part of a series of UNEP FI webinars on climate risks and TCFD for Middle East and Africa.

Deadline extended to 31 July 2020: Essay Competition: Open Data Challenges to Address Global and Societal Issues
The first of its kind, CODATA Connect Early Career and Alumni Network in collaboration with the CODATA Data Science Journal (DSJ) is organising an Essay Competition for Early Career Researchers (ECR), defined as university undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate students or early career researchers within five years of completing their highest qualification.

CODATA Webinar: Publishing your Data with an Excellent Supplementary Article
The good old scientific article has served us for ages, but is unreadable for machines. We still need it, but its role is now more and more a form of rich, human-readable metadata to the data created and interpreted and leading to some scientific claims in the article. Publishing data as ‘supplementary to an article’ is not considered good practice in the new FAIR world of Open Science and therefore the mindset should change and that change should be rewarded to more dynamic and machine-readable scholarly communication.

Webinar: Is this drought normal? How EO data can help you understand drought hazard and benchmark your risk
Drought is one of the main natural causes of agricultural, economic, and environmental damage. The effects of drought on the environment and agriculture are evident after a long period with a shortage of precipitation, making it very difficult to determine the onset of drought, its extent and end. This webinar will present how Earth Observation data with different spatial and temporal resolution can provide information on drought events.