Disaster Risk Reduction and Open Data Newsletter: July 2021 Edition

Robots, drones and satellites: NSW to research new bushfire fighting technology
The NSW government will push to establish the state as a world leader in bushfire research eventually marketing new technology overseas, with close to $30 million set aside for the new project in next week’s budget.

Scientists warn of a bad year for fires in Brazil’s Amazon and wetlands
Dry weather this year raises the risk of severe fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest and Pantanal wetlands, scientists say, warning that a drought could fuel destruction of biomes critical to curbing climate change.

Indian Cities Prepare for Floods with Predictive Technology
The number and intensity of floods are increasing—they can inundate neighbourhoods in Chennai in just 15 minutes. New models can pinpoint and help warn vulnerable areas hours or even days in advance.

Small Satellites to Study Big Storms – NASA Prepares for the TROPICS Mission
In 2022 NASA is launching a constellation of six small satellites (smallsats) to improve our understanding of cyclones in the tropics. With a revisit time of 30 to 60 minutes between overpasses, the TROPICS mission will provide frequent observations of tropical storms as they form and strengthen, which will increase our understanding of the physical processes within storms and improve the accuracy of storm forecasts to better protect lives and property. 

Canterbury floods: Is climate change to blame for severe weather events?
Victoria University climate change expert James Renwick says it is too early to say whether the Canterbury floods were caused by climate change, but the event is exactly what we can expect more of.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation: Understanding Framework Roadblocks
On behalf of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Tonkin + Taylor has undertaken an extensive analysis across 10 climate-vulnerable countries to identify potential roadblocks between climate change adaptation planning and disaster risk reduction (DRR) frameworks.

UNECE: Chief Statisticians bring statistics to the forefront of climate action
The heads of national statistical offices of 59 countries and 24 international organisations are gathered this week in Geneva and around the globe for the 69th plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians, the decision-making body for statistical matters in the UNECE region and beyond.

The UCL Warning Research Centre Opens at the IRDR 11th Annual Conference
A new research centre, the world’s only one devoted to the study of warnings, was formally launched at the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction 11th Annual Conference. The Warning Research Centre brings together global expertise to explore the role of warnings in managing vulnerabilities, hazards, risks, and disasters. The focus is to prevent adverse disaster impacts through improved warnings

GAR Special Report on Drought 2021
The GAR Special Report on Drought 2021 explores the systemic nature of drought and its impacts on the achievement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the SDGs and human and ecosystems health and wellbeing.

WHO: Indicator framework for the evaluation of the public health effectiveness of digital proximity tracing solutions
The overall objective of this indicator framework is to provide a set of indicators to guide national health authorities in the monitoring and evaluation of their digital proximity tracing solutions.

FAO – Indigenous Peoples’ food systems: Insights on sustainability and resilience from the front line of climate changes
This publication provides an overview of the common and unique sustainability elements of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, in terms of natural resource management, access to the market, diet diversity, indigenous peoples’ governance systems, and links to traditional knowledge and indigenous languages.

UNEP: Becoming #GenerationRestoration: ecosystem restoration for people, nature and climate
This report makes the case for why nature-based solutions, such as environmental restoration in particular, is so important and outlines how the UN Decade can catalyse a movement to restore the world’s ecosystems.

Seeking shelter: the factors that influence refuge since Cyclone Gorky in the Coastal Area of Bangladesh
This paper provides an assessment of the factors associated with evacuation to cyclone shelters in coastal areas in Bangladesh over the past 30 years. It is based on the comparative study of Cyclone Amphan (2020) and three major historical cyclones: Gorky (1991), Sidr (2007) and Aila (2009).

6 July – Foreseeable Future – Seamless Integration of data to enhance climate and disaster risk reduction
Join us in this side event (track 2, block 1) as part of UN Climate Change’s Asia Pacific Climate Week 2021 with experts from the Asian Development Bank, Green Climate Fund, UNDRR, GIZ and Tonkin + Taylor in this free webinar.

9 July – High-level dialogue on the Partnership in Action on Science, Technology and Innovation for SDGs Roadmaps
The event will discuss the path forward for the Partnership in Action, following the successful inception of the Global Pilot Programme on Science, Technology, and Innovation for the SDGs roadmaps.

11 July-14 July -The Hazards and Disaster Workforce: Preparing to Meet 21st Century Challenges
Conversations at this year’s Workshop will centre around how the workforce we have can support and build the workforce we need. How does the size and composition of the hazards and disaster workforce shape the ability to respond to and recover from extreme events?

26-28 July – 2021 Pacific Resilience Meeting
The biennial Pacific Resilience Meeting (PRM) is a key component of the Pacific Resilience Partnership (PRP) governance arrangements endorsed by the Pacific Island Forum Leaders in 2017 to support the effective implementation of the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific: An Integrated Approach to Climate Change and Disaster (FRDP) 2017 – 2030.

26-28 July – Pre-Summit of the UN Food Systems Summit
The Pre-Summit of the UN Food Systems Summit will set the stage for the culminating global event in September by bringing together diverse actors from around the world to leverage the power of food systems to deliver progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).