Release of the Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF) Version 1.1
The Committee on Data (CODATA) has released Version 1.1 of the Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF), a practical framework that enables organisations across sectors to share and combine data without manual translation. Resulting from two years of implementation and development, including a disaster preparedness initiative in Malawi and implementation in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) climate adaptation project (Climate-Adapt4EOSC), the release strengthens FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data sharing. New features include standardised core data fields, improved packaging tools, and a developer toolkit, with future updates planned to enhance data quality, semantic mapping, and support for complex data and software resources.
Climate risk and disclosure in ports: Lessons from New Zealand and Australia
Climate risk and disclosure in ports: Lessons from New Zealand and Australia
Ports sit on the front line of climate risk, and increasingly on the front line of climate disclosure too. Drawing on a webinar with Lyttelton Port Company, Flinders Port Holdings and Tonkin + Taylor, this article shows how leading ports are turning mandatory climate reporting from a compliance chore into a strategic advantage: sharpening governance, informing investment decisions and building resilience across operations. As reporting regimes mature on both sides of the Tasman, the ports getting ahead are the ones treating disclosure as navigation, not paperwork.
Watch the webinar
Climate adaptation, governance gaps and the future of Europe’s coastal fisheries
The fish are moving; the rules aren’t keeping up. As warming waters push species into new territories, Europe’s fisheries governance, built for a stable ocean, is struggling to adapt. Using the North Sea brown shrimp fishery as a case study, this article makes the case for adaptive governance and climate services such as early warning systems and decision-support tools, so coastal communities can manage change proactively rather than react to it.
Mapping Africa’s changing coastline
Sea-level rise is not uniform, and for Africa’s coastal communities the local details matter. A new interactive platform combines more than a century of data with future climate projections to show how land subsidence, ocean warming and melting ice sheets shape flood risk from one location to the next. The aim is to give governments the site-specific evidence to decide where to strengthen defences, where to build resilience, and where managed relocation may be the wiser path.
Ocean warming, marine heatwaves and sea-level rise pose increasing risk in South-West Pacific region
2025 was the South-West Pacific’s second warmest year on record (behind 2024), and the ocean is bearing the brunt. A new World Meteorological Organization report documents widespread marine heatwaves driving coral bleaching, fisheries disruption and biodiversity loss, alongside the destruction wrought in Indonesia and Malaysia by Cyclone Senyar. Most striking of all: Indonesia’s last tropical glacier could vanish by 2027. The report calls for urgent strengthening of early warning systems, climate services and coordinated adaptation across the region.
Opinion: Financing Early Warning Systems That Deliver and Endure
Drawing on a 2026 independent evaluation of the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) approach to and Portfolio of Climate Information and Early Warning System Interventions, the authors argue that investment scale alone does not guarantee impact. The GCF is the world’s largest financier of climate information and early warning systems, committing close to two billion US dollars across more than 140 projects in over 100 countries, yet the evaluation finds these investments have grown in isolation, without a unifying framework. The authors highlight that critical gaps remain in decisive stages of system performance, including gaps in communication channels, user-centred design, tailored risk based information, and local preparedness capacity. They call for a shift toward blended finance models, integrated system design, and measuring real-world capability rather than simple coverage.
Mainstreaming Disaster Resilience into Infrastructure Projects
When roads, railways and power networks fail in disasters, the losses ripple across entire economies, and much of that damage is avoidable. Focusing on India’s roads, railways and power sectors, this CDRI report pinpoints where policy, project design, financing and risk assessment fall short. The fixes are practical: embed resilience across the whole infrastructure lifecycle, from planning and procurement through to operation, assess hazards up front, monitor assets in real time using digital systems, and back it all with dedicated financing, insurance and risk-transfer options. The result is a roadmap for reducing economic losses and keeping essential services running, so that future infrastructure keeps standing, and keeps serving, in a changing climate.
Small but mighty — climate resilience in Europe’s small municipalities
Around 40% of the EU’s population lives in municipalities of fewer than 20,000 people, communities that also support much of Europe’s agricultural production and ecosystem services. Yet only 16% of these small municipalities have adaptation plans, compared with 28% of larger ones. This European Environment Agency briefing shows how small towns are punching above their weight through local leadership, partnerships and folding adaptation into plans, budgets and policy, even as limited funding, staffing, technical expertise and access to climate data hold many back. The call is for stronger national and EU support, through funding, knowledge-sharing and capacity building, so no region is left behind.
Physical Vulnerability of The Gambia’s Coastline in the Context of Climate Change
The Gambia’s entire 80 km coastline is under pressure, but some stretches are far more exposed than others. With rising seas, erosion and flooding threatening communities, ecosystems and key industries such as tourism, agriculture and fisheries, knowing where to act first matters. Using the Coastal Vulnerability Index, this study pinpoints the hotspots, from Buniadu Point to Barra and Banjul to Cape Point, where erosion, low-lying terrain and fragile geology converge. The prescription is integrated coastal management: nature-based solutions such as mangrove and wetland restoration, flood-resistant infrastructure, improved drainage, land-use planning and managed retreat from the highest-risk areas, backed by coordinated action across government, communities and regional partners.
Does the scale of a flood map change the decisions it supports? This Aotearoa New Zealand study says yes: regional maps work well for strategic planning and flagging broad areas of concern, but local planning and development decisions demand finer-scale mapping. With extreme rainfall intensifying and development continuing in flood-prone areas, the stakes are rising. The catch is consistency — approaches differ between regions, and there is no clear national guidance on how flood hazard and risk information should be applied in planning, producing uneven outcomes. The authors call for consistent national standards, greater transparency about the limits of each mapping scale, and closer collaboration between planners, scientists and decision-makers.
OntoPortal Workshop 2026 Announced
The OntoPortal Alliance, who develop and maintain open-source ontology repositories that help scientists across disciplines share and reuse structured, machine-readable knowledge, announces its fifth annual gathering in Paris. A free public online session on 23 September features a platform introduction, panel discussion, hands-on tutorial, and a Q&A session. A valuable opportunity for both newcomers and practitioners to explore and discover how ontology tools can improve data interoperability, hear from community members, and discuss future directions.
Online registration: https://zfrmz.eu/bAXGoKYQgWZwTw27fEPr
Online date & location: 23 September 2026 | Zoom (online)
Pacific Webinar on the Global Disaster-Related Statistics Framework (G-DRSF)
Endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2026, the Global Disaster-Related Statistics Framework (G-DRSF) offers countries a common foundation for producing, sharing, and using disaster-related data, from loss and damage tracking to Sendai Framework monitoring and risk-informed planning. This webinar introduces the framework and explores what it means in practice for Pacific countries, where data gaps and the growing impacts of climate-related disasters make robust statistical systems especially critical.
Bringing together regional partners and country representatives, the session will feature presentations, a Pacific country panel, and an interactive Q&A, with a focus on how the G-DRSF can strengthen national statistical systems and support regional collaboration going forward.
Date & location: 4 August 2026 | Online
2026 Int’l Symposium on Construction and Disaster Management (CADM 2026)
The International Symposium on Construction and Disaster Management returns this August in Kunming, China, bringing together researchers and practitioners to share the latest findings at the intersection of construction and disaster management. For those working on disaster-resilient infrastructure, risk-informed building practices, and post-disaster reconstruction, CADM 2026 offers a focused forum to exchange methods, results, and emerging approaches.
Date & location: 10 – 12 August 2026 | Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
Up to 40% of the world’s land is degraded, affecting 3.2 billion people, and this August, the world’s governments will gather in Mongolia to respond. The 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) brings together delegates from 197 Parties, heads of state, scientists, and civil society to advance action on desertification, land degradation, and drought: three interconnected drivers of disaster.
As the first of the three Rio Convention COPs in 2026, COP17 is expected to set the tone for global ambition on land, climate, and biodiversity this year. For DRR practitioners, it is a critical event to follow closely.
Date & location: 17 – 28 August 2026 | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), World Water Week 2026 brings together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers under the theme “Water for People and Progress” to advance equitable, climate-resilient water solutions. The programme will address water security, sanitation, and health, with a particular focus on marginalised communities and the intersections of water, gender, and climate change. For those working in disaster risk reduction, where floods, droughts, and water insecurity sit at the heart of community resilience, this is a key event to follow.
Date & location: 23 – 27 August 2026 | Stockholm, Sweden and Online
Creating Effective Warnings For All Workshops 2026
Three focused workshops at University College London are taking place this September. Spanning climate risk communication, health impacts, and community-inclusive approaches, the series covers some of the most pressing challenges in translating warnings into protective action.
The three workshops are:
- 2 September – Warnings to Action: Aligning Climate Risk Alerts with Climate Change Policy
- 3 September – Warnings for Health in an Era of Rapid Climate Change
- 4 September – Knowing Risk: Co-developing Community-Inclusive Early Warning Systems (co-run with the University of Glasgow and Malawi University of Science and Technology).
Date & location: 2 – 4 September 2026 | University College London, UK
