Why climate-change ‘loss and damage’ will be a hot topic at COP27
As large parts of the planet struggle with climate-inflicted woes, from floods in Pakistan to forest fires in the United States, the thorny issue of how to address “loss and damage” driven by global warming has risen up the political agenda. Nine years ago, U.N. climate negotiators agreed to set up a formal mechanism to tackle loss and damage – but little concrete has emerged, beyond a donor-backed effort to boost insurance against weather disasters in developing countries.

What does community-led climate work look like?
On stormy days—and sunny days too—residents of Jacksonville, Florida watch water filling the streets, rising up to stop signs, and spilling onto front stoops and into parked cars. As a result, annual flooding damage currently costs homeowners and insurance companies $20 million per year nationally, with economic losses concentrated in Florida and California.

Effective Communication Of Disaster Warnings Saving Lives In Fiji
Communication is key – especially when you are in the business of saving lives. During their Ignite session on the second day of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Brisbane, Australia, the FMS presented on disaster risk communication and effective information sharing, in order to give people a better understanding of the importance of effective communication of warnings and understanding user needs.

Beavers can help mitigate the effects of climate change. But how significant is their impact?
The beaver is a unique ecosystem engineer that can create a landscape that would otherwise not exist, thanks to the animal’s ability to build dams. As we experience more frequent heatwaves and drought, the potential role of beavers in safeguarding against these risks has captured widespread attention.

Hurricane Ian capped 2 weeks of extreme storms around the globe: Here’s what’s known about how climate change fuels tropical cyclones
When Hurricane Ian hit Florida, it was one of the United States’ most powerful hurricanes on record, and it followed a two-week string of massive, devastating storms around the world. A few days earlier in the Philippines, Typhoon Noru gave new meaning to rapid intensification when it blew up from a tropical storm with 50 mph winds to a Category 5 monster with 155 mph winds the next day. Hurricane Fiona flooded Puerto Rico, then became Canada’s most intense storm on record. Typhoon Merbok gained strength over a warm Pacific Ocean and tore up over 1,000 miles of the Alaska coast.

Life-Saving Landslide Risk Communication in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Fiona brought wind and heavy rain to Puerto Rico on September 18, triggering hundreds of new landslides. In the mountain community of Naguabo on the east side of the island, a hillside collapsed, burying homes and cars. But residents and emergency workers were able to evacuate just in time before the debris flow occurred.

How to communicate risk when it feels like no one is listening
With climate change providing uncertainty, raising the importance of risk communication is critical when mapping out effective long-term climate responses. As our understanding of natural hazards and climate risk improves, how do we enable individual decision-makers to be best informed? In this paper, challenges and opportunities were identified for harnessing risk-informed data for disaster and climate resilience.

Harnessing risk-informed data for disaster and climate resilience
Disaster and climate risks result from a complex interaction between hazard, exposure, and vulnerability in a broad context defined by socioeconomic, political, and ecological factors. To better understand the risk and manage it more effectively, we need to collect, store, analyse, and use risk-informed data. We identified challenges and opportunities for harnessing risk-informed data for disaster and climate resilience.

The 2022 Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Implementation plan
This is the latest in a series of implementation plans produced by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) programme since its inception in 1992. It provides a set of high priority actions which if undertaken will improve global observations of the climate system and our understanding of how it is changing.

2021 Progress report on the implementation of the UN plan of action on disaster risk reduction for resilience
This 2021 UN Plan of Action Progress Report presents the summary of progress with regard to the three Commitments of the UN Plan of Action, based on the Results Framework, as reported by UN organizations for the year 2021.

Extreme Weather and social connectedness community study- helping communities prepare for extreme weather events
This research project investigates and develops interventions to bolster social connectedness in Boston-area communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It aims to address questions including: How “socially-connected” do people feel within these vulnerable communities? What factors or mechanisms serve to strengthen (or weaken) social connectedness?

Strengthening Risk Analysis for Humanitarian Planning
This guidance details a step-by-step approach tailored to the Humanitarian Programme Cycle and development agenda to ensure it is based on comprehensive and robust forward thinking. It is aimed especially at facilitators involved in strategic planning, to prepare and facilitate joint analysis workshops taking place during the development of Humanitarian Needs Overviews using the Joint Intersectoral Analysis Framework (JIAF).

FAIR Convergence Symposium, 24 – 26 October in Leiden and Online: Programme and Registration
The 2nd FAIR Convergence Symposium is organised by CODATA and GO FAIR on 24 – 26 October 2022 in Leiden, The Netherlands, as part of the Week Focused on FAIR.  This years’ edition will concentrate on smaller, high-priority, strategic and working meetings to encourage convergence on and implementation of FAIR. The meetings are being organised as hybrid events, allowing for both in-person and online participation.

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction – 13 October  
The primary goal of disaster risk reduction is prevention. But when that is not possible, then it is important to minimize the harm to people, assets and livelihoods through early warning systems.

Data Interoperability in China: practice and challenges (A GOSC DataIO Webinar) – 10 October 2022
The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the highest academic institution of natural sciences in China, started the exploration of sharing of scientific data in 1986, and continues to this day.

Short Course on Making Cities Resilient- 25 – 26 October 2022
Presented by Dr Jorge Diaz, this workshop will consider new insights from lessons learnt in the aftermath of disasters and its relation to building resilience (2000-2020). Case-Studies include; Chile, Peru, Mexico, Haiti, and Japan. Dr. Diaz has been involved in most of these events during the response, recovery, mitigation and preparedness stages.

First European conference on community disaster preparedness- 27 October
European Investment Bank Institute (EIB), in collaboration with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Luxembourg.

Scientists exposed plants to a yearlong drought. The result is worrying for climate change
Global experiment found ability of grasses and shrubs to store carbon suffered. Europe and many other parts of the world are currently grappling with extreme drought—and that could be bad news for efforts to curb climate change, concludes a new global study of how shrubs and grasses respond to parched conditions.

Extreme weather in China highlights climate change impacts and need for early warnings
Extreme weather – record-breaking heatwaves, severe drought, and deadly rainfall – have battered China since June. The summer of extremes – in China as in Europe – has underlined the importance of the WMO community’s commitment to Early Warning and Early Action and reinforced the need for the ongoing campaign to provide Early Warnings for All in the next five years.

Predicting—and preparing for—the worst
Climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense. So improving local risk prediction—and studying how extreme weather could affect renewable energy systems—will be critical to building resilience into vulnerable communities and the growing green energy sector.

Climate risk assessment needs urgent improvement
Existing constraints in current climate risk assessments make them inappropriate to effectively assess the true exposure of society and businesses to climate-related risk. Using the key constraints to guide a conceptual framework, we identify four cross-cutting and inter-related critical paths for improvement.

Future of Rail | How rail industry is fighting back against extreme weather events
Increased frequency of extreme weather events is taking its toll on rail infrastructure but the industry is collaborating with academia to strengthen assets against future conditions. Britain’s rail infrastructure is put under intense pressure every day as it carries millions of people to and from their destinations. It is built to last, but some of it has been in place for decades – if not longer – and is reaching the end of its life.

Saving lives with FAIR data: evidence based public policies and the impact of data in disaster and climate change risk management
Informed decision-making and coordinated action for effective disaster and climate change risk reduction require timely and reliable data and information. Technological advances enable us to better understand nature and society. However, despite these advances, challenges remain for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data for decision-making. The COVID-19 pandemic is a good example of how data FAIRness saved lives. It is necessary to identify what challenges the government, non-governmental organisations, and policy users face in FAIRness of data.

An Analysis of Barriers to the Implementation of an ISO Certified Quality Management System for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the Anglophone Caribbean
Aeronautical Meteorological Offices under National Meteorological and Hydrological Service provide critical meteorological, hydrological, ocean and climatological information that sustain air navigation safety, efficiency, and regularity

Navigating the landscape of support for the process to formulate and implement national adaptation plans
This publication provides an overview of the landscape of support available for adaptation and of the targeted programmes and initiatives that have been set up to facilitate the formulation and implementation of national adaptation plans (NAP).

Harnessing Nationally determined contributions to tackle loss and damage in least developed countries
This paper analyses how least developed countries (LDC) are currently reporting loss and damage in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and National Adaptation Plans, identifies gaps or issues in coverage, and suggests a framework for addressing these gaps.

Understanding the flood resilience of rural communities in Mangatarem, Pangasinan
This document presents the work of community flood resilience program of the Philippine Red Cross and IFRC that is implemented as part of the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance. It introduces the Alliance’s unique resilience measurement approach – the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC) – and presents the key results and key insights gained from the FRMC implementation in the program communities in Mangatarem, Pangasinan.

Womens Resilience in Fiji: how laws and policies promote gender equality in climate change and disaster risk management
This report aims to conduct a gender analysis of the national legal and policy frameworks of Fiji to explore how much gender considerations are integrated in its climate change and disaster risk management (CCDRM) laws, policies, and plans and how they contribute to strengthening women’s resilience in the country

Multilateral development bank support for disaster resilient infrastructure system
This publication explores how multilateral development banks (MDBs) can help improve the resilience of infrastructure given increasing climate and disaster risks. It highlights opportunities in three areas: risk-informed planning, financing assistance, and knowledge building through regional and global networks

Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 19 – 22 September 
With the Asia-Pacific experiencing a growth in the frequency and intensity of disasters, investment in reducing our risk to disasters is vital to saving lives and livelihoods, minimising economic loss and ensuring no one is left behind.The 2022 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction presents an opportunity for delegates from across the Asia Pacific to showcase and share experiences, action and innovation to help build a resilient future for the region..

Southern Africa Ministerial Meeting on Integrated Early Warning and Early Action System Initiative, 5 – 9 September 
The aim of the Conference is to converge on the priority requirements for the Southern African region to further accelerate the implementation of Sendai Target G, to substantially increase the availability of and access to early warnings.

IDRiM 2022 – 12th Conference of the International Society for Integrated Disaster Risk Management 21 September, 09:00 AM (CET) 
Critical steps for research and practice in disaster risk management in the age of climate change and COVID-19 pandemics

IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 11-15 September 2022 
All of us in IWA are relieved and thrilled that the countdown to the World Water Congress and Exhibition in Copenhagen has re-started. The Nordic region is a world-leading hub for technology and innovation, making it the ideal location for the Congress; a space to inspire change, stimulate innovative research and share best practices for a water-wise world.

Data for Disaster Risk Reduction Episode two: Coordination and data management for response to recovery 
In 2021, Emergency Event Database, the global database on disasters, recorded 432 events related to natural hazards worldwide. The first episode of the podcast series on Data for Disaster Risk Reduction explores data-driven response and recovery, data coordination, management, and required resources and infrastructure. Insights into policies to be adopted to use technology for better disaster prediction.
The episode has Yan Wang, Data Stewardship Coordinator at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands and Bapon Fakhruddin, Technical Director, Tonkin and Taylor, New Zealand.

WRAPUP 2-Western Europeans pant in early summer heatwave compounding climate change fears
With temperatures reaching 40 in France and Spain, Mediterranean nations are more and more worried about how climate change may affect their economies and lives.

Improving early warnings in the Caribbean, Pacific and Southeast Asia
A successful six-year, 10 million Canadian dollar project, funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), has strengthened the quality and availability of impact-based forecasts and services to support communities in Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.

What’s Causing the Devastating Floods in China, India, and Bangladesh?
In central and southern China, tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes due to flooding from extreme rainfall. Mingfang Ting, a research professor at Columbia Climate School’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, studies precipitation extremes. She pointed to several large-scale climatic conditions that could be contributing to the intense rainfall in China and South Asia.

Tsunami resilience: UNESCO will train 100% of at-risk coastal communities by 2030
At the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO will announce a new global programme to ensure 100% of coastal communities will be “Tsunami Ready” by 2030. Other conference highlights include the designation of Maya Gabeira, the Brazilian surfer, as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

Temperature records tumble in an early, intense heatwave
An unusually early and intense heatwave spread up from North Africa through Europe ahead of the Summer Solstice, bringing temperatures more typical of those witnessed in July or August. In some parts of Spain and France, temperatures are more than 10°C higher than the average for this time of year, breaking many monthly records. This is combined with drought in many parts of Europe.

Saving lives with FAIR data: evidence-based public policies and the impact of data in disaster and climate change risk management
Informed decision-making and coordinated action for effective disaster and climate change risk reduction require timely and reliable data and information. Technological advances enable us to better understand nature and society. However, despite these advances, challenges remain for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data for decision-making. The COVID-19 pandemic is a good example of how data FAIRness saved lives. It is necessary to identify what challenges the government, non-governmental organisations, and policy users face in FAIRness of data.

Minimising waste to reduce emissions: how do we turn waste into action
The NZ Emissions Reduction Plan released in early May 2022 sets out how the Government plans to deliver on the first three emissions budgets until 2035. It’s a step towards taking climate action – it’s now over to businesses, councils and industry to walk the walk and turn plans into a reality. Listen to the recording of this webinar where experts from T+T and Movac discuss, the opportunity for businesses to lead the charge using circular economy principles to reduce emissions, and resource efficiency = avoid wastage. Materials recovery and the potential investment opportunities for businesses and the shift from linear to the circular economy and the impacts and opportunities for your organisation.

Heatwaves: Addressing a sweltering risk in Asia-Pacific
The last decade was the warmest on record, and leading organisations on climate change indicate that warmer temperatures are not a potential threat but a surety. This report considers ways in which disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA), and related scientific communities can rise to data challenges in order to provide policymakers with the evidence needed to set priorities and make decisions. Given the sizeable threat posed by extreme heat events, the report details the human impacts of heat waves, ranging from individual and community health to the built environment.

Disaster risk resilience: conceptual evolution, key issues and opportunities
This paper presents a selection of 25 components used to define resilience, and an interesting linkage emerges between these components and the dimensions of risk management (prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery), offering a perspective to strengthen resilience through the development of capacities. Despite its potential, resilience is subject to challenges regarding its operationalization, effectiveness, measurement, credibility, equity, and even its nature. Nevertheless, it offers applicability and opportunities for local communities as well as an interdisciplinary look at global challenges.

Real-time evaluation of Fao’s Response to the Desert Locust upsurge 2020-2021
FAO’s Office of Evaluation conducted a real-time evaluation across three phases spread over one year. Each phase covered specific aspects of the response: Phase I focused on leadership, management and coordination of the response and was conducted between June to October 2020. Phase II focused on results as well as management and operations at the country level. Phase III drew lessons for future operations and FAO’s work on Desert Locust in the Region.

Gender-responsive national adaptation plan Processes: progress and promising examples
This document is the third in a series of synthesis reports that assess progress on gender-responsive approaches in National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes at the global level. It coincides with the midpoint of the Gender Action Plan under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), making this a good moment to reflect on progress in integrating gender considerations in NAP processes.

Soil drought can mitigate deadly heat stress thanks to a reduction in air humidity
This article investigates the relationship between dry soils and heatwave lethality. Recent heatwaves often coincided with soil droughts that intensify air temperature but lower air humidity. Since lowering air humidity may reduce human heat stress, the net impact of soil desiccation on the morbidity and mortality of heatwaves remains unclear.

HLPF Side Event: A Risk-Informed Approach to Development in a COVID-19 Transformed World
The 2022 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development will be held on 5-15 July 2022, under the theme of “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” which will feature thematic reviews of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 on quality education, 5 on gender equality, 14 on life below water, 15 on life on land and 17 on partnerships for the Goals. A series of side events will convene on the margins of the HLPF, under the auspices of the ECOSOC.

VNR Lab: Applying the Sendai Framework to fast-track the 2030 Agenda through a risk-informed approach
The Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) are inclusive reviews of progress at national levels, towards the Sustainable Development Goals, each year at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) for Sustainable Development. They aim to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

International Data Week – A festival of data 23-26 October Salzburg
Save the date!
The International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS), and the Research Data Alliance (RDA) are delighted to announce International Data Week 2023: A Festival of Data, taking place on 23–26 October 2023, in Salzburg, Austria.