Achieving the Impossible
During the heroic age of polar exploration at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, both the North and South Poles were attained by expeditions mustering dozens of specialists, the latest technological advancements, and the support of nation-states and major corporations. Achieving these feats required previously unimaginable levels of perseverance and cooperation.

Analysis: Africa’s unreported extreme weather in 2022 and climate change
From deadly floods in Nigeria to devastating drought in Somalia, Africa has faced a run of severe – and sometimes unprecedented – extreme weather events since the start of 2022.

WFP launches initiative to bolster people’s resilience to food shocks in Southern Madagascar
ANTANANARIVO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched the Anticipatory Action system as part of efforts to bolster smallholder farmers’ ability to withstand shocks as the country approaches the lean season with up to 1.9 million people estimated to suffer from acute hunger, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

How to co-design a flood early warning system (FEWS) for West Africa
The great West African drought that started in the 1970s was undoubtedly a turning point in the region’s environmental discourse. It is well recognised as one of the most significant climate-driven disasters in recent history. The event was the onset of an era of rainfall uncertainty and variability, driving recurring floods and droughts across the region.

Machine Learning for Disaster Risk Management
To some, artificial intelligence is a mysterious term that sparks thoughts of robots and supercomputers. But the truth is machine learning algorithms and their applications, while potentially mathematically complex, are relatively simple to understand. Here, we explain how the World Bank Group uses machine learning algorithms to collect better data, make more informed decisions, and, ultimately, save lives.

As water-related disasters mount, experts call for more warning tech
With natural disasters becoming more frequent, further development and disbursement of risk assessment tools and early warning technologies are necessary to mitigate the damage they cause, a leading Japanese researcher on disaster risk reduction has said.

Food for thought: Climate change risk and food (in)security in Tuvalu
Climate change presents a considerable threat to food security of low-lying atoll nations in the Pacific including Tuvalu. It is projected to heavily impact agricultural and fishery sectors in Tuvalu, threatening food chains and the ability of Tuvaluans to produce and access safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary and cultural needs.

Global status of multi-hazard early warning systems: Target G
This UNDRR-WMO joint report assesses the current global status of multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) against Target G of the Sendai Framework, collating data officially reported by the Member States with data collected through a WMO survey.

Practical actions approach in Disseminating Localised flood early warning in Bangladesh
An effective Early Warning System ensures that accurate, reliable, actionable, and understandable information reaches those who need it in a timely manner. Practical Action takes a comprehensive and people-centered approach to ensure that timely, accurate, and understandable information reaches the most vulnerable.

ASEAN Framework on Anticipatory Action in Disaster Management
The ASEAN Framework on Anticipatory Action in Disaster Management provides guidance for defining and contextualising anticipatory action at the regional level with some considerations for its implementation by Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This Framework outlines three building blocks of anticipatory action and proposes a Plan of Action for 2021–2025 with the primary aim to streamline anticipatory action in disaster risk management (DRM) through joint regional efforts.

Science, Technology, Innovation and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
Science and technology have been contributing to the advancement of disaster risk reduction approaches and saving people’s lives and properties. However, its nature, role and usage have changed over time. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) had focused on the increasing use of science and technology, not only by scientists but all different stakeholders from governments to non-government organizations and private sectors.

Good Practices for adaptation action research
For climate change adaptation to be effective, it needs to be context-specific and driven by both social and environmental considerations. Adaptation must also be based on the ever-evolving field of climate change science, and able to incorporate new research and knowledge continually throughout the adaptation process.

COP27 6-18 November 
The hosting of COP27 in the green city of Sharm El-Sheikh this year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the thirty years since, the world has come a long way in the fight against climate change and its negative impacts on our planet; we are now able to better understand the science behind climate change, better assess its impacts, and better develop tools to address its causes and consequences.

Australian Vocabulary Symposium 2022, running in Canberra and online (internationally) on 14-15 November, 2022.
This symposium brings together users, creators and publishers of vocabularies across multiple domains and sectors in Australia. Delegates will share current experiences and future requirements as we collectively move towards a state of FAIR vocabularies that underpin cross-domain data reuse.

World Tsunami Awareness Day 2022 in Asia-Pacific: Early Warning and Early Action Before Every Tsunami
By the year 2030, an estimated 50 percent of the world’s population will live in coastal areas exposed to flooding, storms, and tsunamis (UNESCO-IOC, 2021). Scaling up regional support to developing countries will help ensure that 100% of communities at risk of tsunami are prepared for and resilient to tsunamis by 2030.

Understanding Risk Global Forum (UR22)
The Understanding Risk Global Forum (UR22) will be a hybrid event with the main location in Florianopolis, Brazil. Satellite events are taking place in London (UK), Wellington (New Zealand) and Niamey (Niger). The location offers an exceptional opportunity for the world to learn from Brazil and vice versa and strengthen the sustainable development agenda, moving from understanding risk to action on disaster resilience

6^th DRMKC Annual Seminar
This 2-day event aims to share the achievements of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network (UCPKN) Science Pillar in addressing challenges such as compound, concurrent and cascade events which need to be included in risk analysis or the communication challenges in risk management, among others.

Technical Expert Forum 2022: Tracking of hazardous events and disaster losses and damages
The global community has been working on standardizing national information on losses and damages to better understand risk, and how these components change over time. Traditionally, the recording of disaster losses and damages starts at the impact level by the national disaster (risk) management offices (NDMOs) in terms of human and economic losses, often based on assessments by local authorities and humanitarian partners.

4th Workshop under the Glasgow-Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation
The workshop is organized pursuant to decision 7/CMA.3, by which the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) agreed on the modalities and procedures of the work programme and decided that eight workshops would be conducted during 2022 and 2023.

COP27 EU Side Event: Data and systems for understanding and acting on current and future risks
This 1-hour event organized by DRMKC will be focused on building the evidence base to inform future action on disaster risks. Together with amazing guest panellists from the Joint Research Centre, the European Central Bank, ESPON ,TECNALIA, UN OCHA and DG ECHO, we will discuss

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.

GPDRR2022- Co-Chairs’ Summary: Bali Agenda for Resilience
The seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction took place from 25 to 27 May 2022 in Bali, Indonesia. It was co-chaired by H.E. Prof. Muhadjir Effendy, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, and Ms. Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. Organized in a hybrid format, the Global Platform had over 4000 participants from a total of 185 countries.

Investing in resilient infrastructure for a better future
Day-to-day life depends on infrastructure and its services. This includes supply chains, electricity, water and sanitation, and information networks. But in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly extreme weather events, these systems are under increasing threat. In December 2020, Cyclone Yasa, a single event, caused around USD 1.4 billion in damage to health facilities, homes, schools, and other critical infrastructure in the Pacific island nation of Fiji. Beyond the economic toll, there was immeasurable disruption to people’s lives due to downed systems, extending the duration of the disaster beyond the passing of the cyclone.

The climate Risk and Early Warning Systems initiative brings a message of hope
In a year overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic fallout, 2021 nevertheless saw progress towards strengthening early warning services and building resilience to extreme weather and climate change impacts in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. This is one of the critical messages of the 2021 Annual Report of the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems Initiative (CREWS). This unique climate action programme helps save lives, livelihoods and assets in the world’s most vulnerable countries.

Building the evidence for more effective disaster risk reduction
After a long hiatus due to the COVID crisis, governments have come together in Bali last week to discuss progress on implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Organised by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and hosted by the Government of Indonesia, the seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction comes at a crucial time. While countries struggle to address the compounded threats of food, fuel and financial insecurity amid a pandemic, many must also still contend with the threat of natural hazards and the terrible costs they exact.

A new study of the relationship between climate change and socio-economic tipping points
Climate change can cause sudden socio-economic tipping points, such as large-scale bankruptcies of low-lying ski resorts, the collapse of house prices due to sea-level rise, or the extensive disruption of the road network due to flooding. Kees van Ginkel (Deltares) spent four years researching tipping points of this kind. He will present the results, which have been published in various journals, at a scientific conference in Vienna (EGU) this week.

Policy Brief: Harnessing data to accelerate the transition from disaster response to recovery
The CODATA Task Group on FAIR Data for Disaster Risk Research has produced a Policy Brief as input to the seventh session of the Global Platform (GP2022), organised by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) from 23 to 28 May 2022, in Bali, Indonesia. This policy brief was published alongside two ISC policy briefs on the same occasion.

Data For Disaster Risk Reduction podcast series –  Data-Driven Dynamics for Resilience Podcast
Data for Disaster Risk Reduction

Principles for resilient infrastructure
The Principles for Resilient Infrastructure describe a set of principles, key actions, and guidelines to create national scale net resilience gain and improve the continuity of critical services such as energy, transport, water, wastewater, waste, and digital communications, which enable health, education, etc. to function effectively.

Technical Guidance on Comprehensive Risk Assessment and Planning in the Context of Climate Change
Climate change is increasing the magnitude, frequency, duration and severity of climate-related hazards, leading to complex and cascading risks that make people and systems more vulnerable today in years to come. A comprehensive understanding of risks is thus a priority. This document is also a pivotal contribution to the Plan of Action of the Technical Expert Group on Comprehensive Risk Management of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts.

Closing the Gap between Science and Practice at Local Levels to Accelerate Disaster Risk Reduction
This policy brief analyses the existing gap between science and technology (S&T) and its incorporation into disaster risk management at local levels.

The road to COP27: Making Africa’s case in the climate debate
This study explores the potential impacts of compounding risk between natural hazards and infectious disease outbreaks, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) region. Compound risk occurs when two or more shock events overlap, inducing additional pressure on social and physical vulnerabilities. As part of the study, scenarios of a natural hazard occurring during an outbreak are created for each CAREC country.

Projecting the effects of climate change on the informed risk index
This contributing paper presents an extension of the INFORM Risk Index, a global indicator-based disaster risk assessment tool. By using projections of exposure to climate change hazards to provide better insights for policymakers on the threats imposed by climate change and the extent to the amplified risks can be compensated by reduced vulnerability and increased adaptive capacity measures.

Webinar: Inside the NZ Emissions Reduction Plan – June 2
The NZ Emissions Reduction Plan, released on Monday, 16 May contains strategies, policies, and actions to achieve our first emissions budget as required by the Climate Change Response Act 2002. Climate Change Minister Hon James Shaw says that the plan ‘will require nearly every part of Government to act to reduce emissions right across the country.’ It’s being touted as a major step towards taking tangible climate action, requiring big changes. If you’re interested in discussing with us and others what these changes may mean for your organisation and how to best respond: I will be joined by T+T Technical Director – Climate and Resilience James Hughes and Chapman Tripp’s climate regulatory and risk experts Alana Lampitt and Nicola Swan to host an interactive online session on Thursday 2 June to unpack the Emissions Reduction Plan and field any questions on how to tackle emissions reduction.

WorldFAIR – Global cooperation on FAIR data policy and practice – June 20 
The major global scientific and human challenges of the 21st century (including climate change, sustainable development, and disaster risk reduction) can only be addressed through cross-domain research that seeks to understand complex systems through machine-assisted analysis at scale. WorldFAIR project comprises a genuinely global consortium and 11 case studies in a range of research fields.  The objective of each case study is to unpack the research questions, characterise the data requirements and develop an interoperability framework for their discipline or interdisciplinary research area. This is done in cooperation with CODATA and the Research Data Alliance, organisations that have developed recommendations and technical frameworks to assist with interoperability on various levels.

International Data Week 2022 – 20-23rd June 
International Data Week (IDW) is a landmark event organised by the Committee on Data (CODATA) and the World Data System (WDS) of the International Science Council (ISC), and the Research Data Alliance (RDA).
It brings together data scientists, researchers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers and data stewards from disciplines across the globe to explore how best to exploit the data revolution to improve science and society through data-driven discovery and innovation.  IDW combines the RDA Plenary Meeting, the biannual meeting of this international membership organisation working to develop and support global infrastructure facilitating data sharing and reuse, and SciDataCon, the scientific conference addressing the frontiers of data in research organised by CODATA and WDS.

Sea levels rising twice as fast as thought in New Zealand
Explosive new data shows the sea level is rising twice as fast as previously thought in some parts of Aotearoa, massively reducing the number of times authorities has to respond. The major new projections show infrastructure and homes in Auckland and Wellington – as well as many other places – risk inundation decades earlier than expected.

Risk Data Hub, a renewed space to support EU countries with disaster prevention and preparedness
More than 2400 disastrous events related to natural hazards have struck Europe in the last 30 years. The Risk Data Hub (RDH) hosts resources to help authorities manage risks and justify financial support requests to cope with these major events. The ultimate goal of this comprehensive hub is to offer data to help improve risk assessments in the stages before, during and after a disaster hits Europe.

Addressing food security and climate change through regenerative agriculture
One of the significant challenges that Bangladesh faces is ensuring food security for a growing population. The most viable and holistic solution to this problem is regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture is a farming system that attempts to conserve soil and contribute to multiple provisioning, regulating and supporting services of the ecosystem and aims to enhance the environmental, social and economic sustainability of food production.

After the relentless rain, South Africa sounds the alarm on the climate crisis
Survivors of South Africa’s devastating floods have described “sheet upon sheet of relentless rain” that washed away entire houses, bridges and roads, killing about 450 people and making thousands homeless. The storm, which delivered close to an entire year’s usual rainfall in 48 hours, took meteorologists by surprise and has been blamed by experts on climate change. The new disaster comes after three tropical cyclones and two tropical storms hit southeast Africa in just six weeks in the first months of this year.

Risk insurance builds climate and disaster resilience in Central America and the Caribbean
Drought-monitoring technology that is currently being embedded in water and agricultural ministries in Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco will now be implemented in Tunisia. The satellite-based enhanced composite drought index (eCDI) supports effective drought management by enabling authorities to identify, early on, the presence and evolution of drought.

Empowering people to adapt on the frontlines of climate change
A new platform will unite climate models, impact predictions, random control trial evaluations, and humanitarian services to bring cutting-edge tools to Bangladeshi communities.

Technical Guidance on Comprehensive Risk Assessment and Planning in the Context of Climate Change
The Technical Guidance on Comprehensive Risk Assessment and Planning in the Context of Climate Change provides orientation on how risks in the context of climate change can be comprehensively and systemically addressed through risk assessment. Decision-making, planning, and integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) perspectives and approaches while simultaneously linking to other goals and targets (e.g. the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) are also discussed.

Global Risk Assessment Report 2022 (GAR2022)
GAR2022 explores how, around the world, structures are evolving to better address systemic risk. The report shows how governance systems can evolve to reflect the interconnected value of people, the planet and prosperity.

Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2022
The study of flood risk perception factors can be considered by using different paradigms. In an attempt to understand risk perception, two basic paradigms can be distinguished: rationalist and constructivist. This review paper aims to assess the importance of the rationalist and constructivist approaches in research on flood risk perception and flood risk management more broadly.

The United Nations World Water Development Report 2022: groundwater: making the invisible visible
This brief explores key improvements in data delivered by SHEAR projects. The SHEAR programme (Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience) carried out innovative research, in some of the most hazard-prone parts of the world, to better understand and forecast disasters, and minimize the risk they pose to vulnerable communities.

Compound risk analysis of natural hazards and infectious disease outbreaks
This study explores the potential impacts of compounding risk between natural hazards and infectious disease outbreaks such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) region. Compound risk occurs when two or more shock events overlap, inducing additional pressure on social and physical vulnerabilities. As part of the study, scenarios of a natural hazard occurring during an outbreak are created for each CAREC country.

The Third Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference – 23-24 May
As we approach the mid-point of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, MHEWC-III provides a unique opportunity to review key accomplishments, and share skills, experience, and expertise within an active network of early warning practitioners.

Seventh Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2022)- 23 to 28 May
The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is the main global forum to assess and discuss progress on the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The seventh session of the Global Platform (GP2022) will be organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) from 23 to 28 May 2022, in Bali, Indonesia, hosted by the Government of Indonesia. The event will be co-chaired by the Government of Indonesia and UNDRR.

Geo Virtual Symposium – Global action for local impact – 2-5^th May
With the theme ‘Global Action for Local Impact’, the GEO Virtual Symposium 2022 will explore how the portfolio of GEO products and services can provide insights and evidence for policy development and decision making, which is expected to lead to local impact over time. The symposium will foster dialogue among local stakeholders, GEO Work Programme (GWP) activities and other partners to discuss transversal environmental and societal issues, and identify potential integrative EO-based solutions in selected regions.

Call for paper Special Issue “Post-disaster Recovery and Climate Change Adaptation – an Asia-Pacific Perspective”
This Special Issue aims to present a platform for the exchange of the latest research and practices in post-disaster recovery and climate change adaptation in the Asia-Pacific region. Themes of particular interest include reasons for current inadequacies and context-specific challenges contributing to failed recovery and adaptation in the region, lessons learnt from past disaster experiences, innovative post-disaster reconstruction and recovery practices, and sustainable and practical solutions for adapting to climate change that is applicable to the Asia-Pacific region. We are seeking articles duly addressing environmental, cultural, economic and social aspects of post-disaster recovery and climate change adaptation within the scope of Sustainability.

Floods and other secondary perils: opportunity or threat for the industry?
18 May 2022
The Swiss Re Institute’s annual Natural Catastrophe sigma has become the benchmark in documenting the human and financial impact of disasters. The report compares these losses to prior years and historical averages to put the year in perspective. This hybrid event will look at the main natural catastrophe loss drivers for 2021 and how the year stacks up against others. We’ll take a deeper dive into flood risk and what the insurance industry can do to help build societal resilience in the face of increasing secondary perils.

The World Reconstruction Conference- 23-24 May 2022
The World Reconstruction Conference is a global forum that provides a platform to collect, assess, and share disaster reconstruction and recovery experiences and take forward the policy dialogue for effective international disaster recovery and reconstruction framework.

Climate change: IPCC report warns of ‘irreversible’ impacts of global warming
Many of the impacts of global warming are now simply “irreversible” according to the UN’s latest assessment. But the authors of a new report say that there is still a brief window of time to avoid the very worst. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that humans and nature are being pushed beyond their abilities to adapt.

Strengthening emergency communications for complex, cascading and compounding events – lessons learned from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami in Tonga
While research communities are trying to better understand complex, compounding and cascading disasters, 2022 has just provided a ‘textbook’ example in Tonga. Tropical Cyclone Cody, the COVID-19 pandemic threat, and the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano – followed by a tsunami and more than 70 earthquakes (magnitudes 4.4-5.0) between 14 January and 04 February 2022 – devastated the emergency management system in Tonga.

CREWS commits additional funding to strengthen Early Warning Systems in the Caribbean
Different and multiple hazards, such as severe weather conditions inland and at sea, droughts, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, pose a serious threat to the Caribbean –  one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. The development of Early Warning Systems has been identified by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement as a key pathway to prevent disasters and reduce the negative impacts of multiple hazards.

Limiting the damage: UN helps policymakers tackle climate change
As extreme weather events become commonplace, threatening communities and economies across the world, the UN is helping policymakers and leaders by projecting the impact of future climate hazards, and recommending the best, most cost-effective ways to adapt.

INFORM Risk Management Tool
INFORM is the first global, objective and transparent tool for understanding the risk of humanitarian crises. When all those involved in crisis prevention, preparedness and response use a shared risk assessment, they can work more effectively. That is why INFORM is open-source. INFORM has been developed in response to recommendations by numerous organisations to improve the common evidence basis for risk analysis, as well as the actual demands of INFORM partner organisations.

Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
The Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change. To read the summaries or the full report click the link.

Understanding hazards: Probabilistic cyclone modelling for disaster risk to the Eastern Coast in Bangladesh
Cyclones and associated wind and water hazards result in the most significant fatalities. In addition, coastal inundations due to cyclonic storm surges are an increasing threat to the lives and livelihoods of people in low-lying, highly populated coastal areas. This paper develops a synthetic cyclone modelling (Category 4) to understand the probable maximum impacts of a tropical cyclone and its cascading and compounding hazards in the Cox’s Bazar area in Bangladesh.

Scoping paper – Strategic crisis management in the EU – June 2021
This scoping paper sets out the key recommendations by the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors on how to enhance crisis preparedness, more integrated and timely response capacity, and resilient recovery for the EU are expected within the second quarter of this year.

European Environmental Agency Europe’s changing climate hazards – an index-based interactive EEA report
Climate change is happening, and we need to get ready for more intense heatwaves, floods and storms, wildfires and water scarcity. Different climate-related hazards affect regions, sectors of the economy and members of society in different ways. Decision-makers need the best data and information to help them understand the imperatives and make the necessary preparations. “Europe’s changing climate hazards – an interactive index-based EEA report”, brings it all together with an overview of past and projected changes in Europe’s most important climate hazards.

A Deep-Learning Method for the Prediction of Socio-Economic Indicators from Street-View Imagery Using a Case Study from Brazil
Socioeconomic indicators are essential to help design and monitor the impact of public policies on society. Over recent years other ways of collecting data and producing indicators have been explored, in particular using the new surveillance capabilities that remote observations can provide. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the assessment of socioeconomic indicators using street-view imagery, through a case study conducted in a region of Brazil, the Vale do Ribeira, one of the poorest semi-rural regions in Brazil.

Beyond Barriers: Solomon Islands Case Study
This case study explores the Solomon Islands’ progress in the integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA), identifying key themes and opportunities for stakeholders to advance approaches that reduce risk and enhance resilience in communities

A crowdsourced global data set for validating built-up surface layers
Several global high-resolution built-up surface products have emerged over the last five years, taking full advantage of open sources of satellite data such as Landsat and Sentinel. However, these data sets require validation that is independent of the producers of these products. To fill this gap, we designed a validation sample set of 50 K locations using a stratified sampling approach independent of any existing global built-up surface products.

Domino Effect: Cascading disasters and lessons from the Tonga eruption and tsunami
Tonkin + Taylor in partnership with Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), Committee on Data (CODATA) of the International Science Council (ISC) brings together experts to share: A forensic assessment of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami in Tonga, A cascading and compounding hazard assessment, Volcanic eruption and tsunami scenarios, Lessons learned and ways forward. Follow the link to sign up for this webinar.

28 Feb – 11 March -1st WWRP/SERA Weather and Society Conference 2022 (Online)
Extreme hydrometeorological events are affecting societies, economies and environments as never before in human history. Governments, science agencies, the humanitarian sector, emergency managers and decision-makers face an unprecedented challenge to reduce the risks to citizens and society. The Societal and Economics Research Application (SERA) Working Group of the WMO World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) invites the weather community to actively participate in the first Weather and Society Conference organised by this Programme.

Global Sustainability – Sustainable Education in the Digital Age
Prof. Stephen Yang will address that in the digital age when developing technology, we also need to reflect on the impact of ethics and social changes on education. Prof. Hiroaki Ogata will address that the Japanese government expects to launch 15 “International Leading Research Projects” in 2023, each with a total funding cap of 500 million yen over seven years, to support international joint research. Prof. Owen Lu will address that by applying ESG analytics technology to essay grading. Including how to use natural language processing technology to analyze corporate sustainability reports and media news?

Launch of Women’s Leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction
Women, girls, boys, men, and people of diverse gender identities have distinct vulnerabilities in each context that shape the way that they experience and recover from disaster impacts. Effective disaster risk reduction requires meaningful and diverse participation, engagement, and leadership, through an inclusive and accessible, all-of-society approach.

Flood forecasting for anticipatory action: applying flood models in humanitarian contexts
Flood forecasts can provide critical information to help people get ahead of rising water levels before a crisis unfolds. The speakers will explore examples of flood models, the spatial and temporal scale at which these models can provide risk information, how probabilistic models are interpreted, the uncertainties of these models, and where floods models have been used to inform anticipatory action.

Current approaches and GIS methods to support anticipatory humanitarian action
Geospatial data, GIS and remote sensing are of increasing importance in the humanitarian context and are currently experiencing increased use in the field of anticipatory humanitarian action. In this advanced course, you have the opportunity to explore the application areas of geodata in humanitarian contexts.

Why the Tonga tsunami arrived much earlier and much larger than expected
The tsunami recorded at distant locations from the Tonga volcanic explosion arrived much earlier and was much larger than expected from an earthquake-generated tsunami. This event caused great difficulty in issuing timely and accurate tsunami warnings for the following three reasons described in the article.

Volunteered rapid disaster monitoring and mapping (VoRDM)
The Kingdom of Tonga and its people are reeling from the violent January 15 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and the ensuing tsunami. CODATA TG FAIR Data for DRR, China GEO Aerospace Information Research Institute in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIR) and Tonkin + Taylors  Disaster Risk Resilience team is working hard to map the devastation accurately and smoothly the way for more efficient humanitarian efforts and recovery.

Long-term planning crucial to Tonga’s recovery
As recovery efforts began in Tonga, after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption and the tsunami that followed, the first priority will be to provide immediate relief to communities to save lives and respond to urgent needs. However, successful recovery must also incorporate long-term strategies of building back better and establishing resilience, mitigation, risk reduction and preparedness initiatives.

2021 floods: UN researchers aim to better prepare for climate risks
In July 2021, several European countries, including Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, were affected by catastrophic floods, causing deaths and widespread damage. According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), such extreme weather events are expected to increase frequency and severity in the coming decades.

A framework for global science in support of risk-informed sustainable development and planetary health
This document takes stock of recent developments in disaster risk science. It provides a compelling set of directions for research and scientific collaboration for a more holistic and collaborative approach to understanding and managing risks. It challenges silos in science and in society and the notion that social, ecological, economic and technological systems can be understood in isolation from one another and advocates for an increased focus on people.

Tsunami risk communication and management: Contemporary gaps and challenges
Very large tsunamis are associated with low probabilities of occurrence. In many parts of the world, these events have usually occurred in a distant time in the past. As a result, there is a low-risk perception and a lack of collective memories, making tsunami risk communication challenging and complex. Furthermore, immense challenges lie ahead as population and risk exposure increase in coastal areas.

UK climate change risk assessment 2022
As required by the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK government has undertaken the third five-year assessment of the risks of climate change in the UK. The risk assessment considers sixty-one UK-wide climate risks and opportunities cutting across multiple sectors of the economy. It prioritises eight risk areas for action, discussed in the document.

Creating resilient futures: Integrating disaster risk reduction, sustainable development goals and climate change adaptation agendas
This book examines a coherence building opportunity between Climate Change Adaptation, the Sustainable Development Goals and Disaster Risk Reduction agendas. Considers opportunities to address global challenges in the context of developing resilience as an integrated development continuum instead of through independent and siloed agendas.

City Resilience Program: Supporting cities in building resilience
This Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) webinar session aims to provide in-depth information to help cities, local authorities, and their partners better understand what the City Resilience Program is and how to access its support. It will include information on the type of support provided, the eligibility criteria and the relevant application process.

CREWS workshop on people-centred early warning systems operational procedures
CREWS invite participants to register interest in participating in a 2-hour workshop (in French and English) to discuss CREWS People-Centered Early Warning Systems (EWS) Operational Procedures. The workshop is an opportunity for people with experience of people-centred EWS and design, implementation and monitoring of CREWS projects to share experiences and contribute to finalising.

Pre-Conference Workshops – African kick-off conference for the UN decade of ocean science for sustainable development
The Conference will provide a forum to take stock of the state of ocean science and technology in the region, to deliberate on how ocean science in Africa should be supported and focused on achieving the societal outcomes required by the Decade, and also seek the interest and commitment of the ocean science community to engage in a number of research directions that are essential for sustainable ocean management.

SHEAR Common Ground: Science for humanitarian emergencies and resilience
It is our great pleasure to invite you to join us on February 11th at our SHEAR finale event, in which we will be celebrating our achievements, finding common ground and charting the way forward. We are excited to share and discuss pressing humanitarian-science questions and the outcomes of the SHEAR programme through a high-energy and interactive virtual event.

Artificial intelligence for natural disaster management
This Webinar will explore the main barriers to adopting these disruptive technologies in disaster management and examine the integrated approaches related to machine learning, big data analytics, and AI for supporting the detection, forecasting, and communication of natural hazards disasters.  In this context, the Webinar will provide an overview of how AI can be leveraged to enhance modelling across spatiotemporal scales and facilitate effective communication in the event of a natural disaster. 

World Bank: Disaster risk insurance: 5 insights from the Philippines
With disasters a growing threat, insurance for countries trying to manage climate and disaster risk is becoming increasingly critical. While insight on what works – and what doesn’t – to build resilience is still limited, the experience of the Philippines shows how countries can improve their protection to disasters by working with international insurance markets.

Science supporting policy in disaster risk management: providing the data and knowledge for transitioning to a climate-proof resilient society
The representatives of the EC’s Joint Research Centre recently discussed the INFORM risk assessment, an evidence-based methodology to support decision-making on humanitarian crises and disasters, extended recently to the regions of Caucasus and Central Asia and South Eastern Europe

Kiribati: Fishing for food and resilience
Located in the centre of the Pacific, the Republic of Kiribati is known for being one of the world’s smallest and most remote island nations. In fact, it is remarkably large: 33 atoll islands spread across an ocean territory of more than 3.5 million square kilometers. The vast waters – one of the world’s biggest Exclusive Economic Zones – constitute some of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on Earth, supporting hundreds of species as well as the livelihoods, health, culture, and way of life of local people. However, in the global narratives about climate change, island nations such as Kiribati have been seen as ‘poster children’ for the risks of a warming planet.

The need for medium-range forecasting in early warning systems to improve risk outcomes
High-impact weather events – floods, storms, cyclones – threaten human life and property, as well as affecting the economy and inflicting significant societal hazards. Being able to predict these events accurately, and with sufficient lead times, enables people to prepare for them. It is also more cost-effective: a dollar invested in disaster preparedness – which reduces people’s vulnerability to the impacts – can prevent six dollars’ worth of disaster-related economic losses.

One billion children at ‘extremely high risk’ of climate impacts
Young people living in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau are the most at risk of the impacts of climate change, threatening their health, education, and protection, and exposing them to deadly diseases, according to a UNICEF report launched today. ‘The Climate Crisis Is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index’ is the first comprehensive analysis of climate risk from a child’s perspective. It ranks countries based on children’s exposure to climate and environmental shocks, such as cyclones and heatwaves, as well as their vulnerability to those shocks, based on their access to essential services.

Post-disaster needs assessments guidelines: Volume B – Environment
The main objective of PDNA–Environment is to prepare a recovery strategy that guides the restoration of environment and natural resources damaged due to a disaster. This should also enable environmentally friendly rebuilding in all sectors. The recovery plan also supports the restoration of environment and natural resources as a disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategy.

Words into Action: Nature-based solutions for disaster risk reduction
This guide aims to give practical, how-to-do information on setting up and implementing nature-based solutions (NbS), especially for disaster risk reduction (DRR), but also for climate change adaptation (CCA). It is designed to help implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (hereafter referred to as the Sendai Framework). The Sendai Framework recognizes that environmental degradation can cause hazards and that disasters also have an impact on the environment.

From protection to prevention: The role of cooperative and mutual insurance in DRR
This report, prepared by the ICMIF-UNDRR collaboration, presents seven mechanisms gleaned from case studies compiled across the cooperative and mutual insurance sector and from a literature review on the role of insurance in supporting disaster risk reduction and resilience. It focuses on preventing new risks and reducing existing risk is more urgent than ever because disasters can erase development gains and hinder progress, often for years to come, such as in the case of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemics or major technological disasters.

UNDRR Briefing Package for UN Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams
This briefing package sets out how UNDRR can better support UNRCs and UNCTs to deliver sustainable development benefits at a country level from a DRR angle. The options proposed here can be adjusted to meet the needs of the regional UN development system architecture. This package includes an information checklist, support tools and information that UNDRR has developed to support national governments and UN partners to reduce risks and losses as guided by the Sendai Framework.

 Can ecosystems protect populations? New evidence published
While it is generally assumed that ecosystems, such as mangroves, coral reefs or sand dunes, play an important role in reducing risks from hazard events, there are few comprehensive studies that gather scientific evidence on the services these ecosystems provide, and the functions they fulfil for disaster risk reduction.

Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Resilience: Linking Science, Tech, Policy and Practice
Objectives of the webinar include discussing the current state of nature-based solutions that are undertaken globally and identifying success stories and how this can be replicated to scale for impact.

Workshop Announcement and Call for Applications: Enlargement and Integration – Digital Transformation, Data and AI in the Western Balkans
The workshop “Digital Transformation, Data and AI in the Western Balkans” aims to investigate how digital technologies, data and AI influence changes in our societies. Europe’s ambition is to become the world-leading region for developing and deploying cutting edge, ethical and secure AI, as well as to promote a human-centric approach in the global context.

9th Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action – Virtual Edition: 7th – 9th December 2021
Join us for a series of panel discussions, thematic presentations and interactive events that will bring together practitioners, scientists and government representatives from around the world to explore how anticipatory action can address the compounding and intertwined effects of the climate crisis, rising conflicts and economic shocks on the world’s most vulnerable people.

International Science Council – Health Inequalities: New Methods, Better Insights?
At this conference of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the final report of the ALLEA/FEAM Health Inequalities project will be presented to a wider audience. The technical contents of this report, ‘Health inequalities: new methods, better insights?’, have already been discussed extensively at a series of well-attended workshops. This conference aims to provide a forum for discussing the implications of the report for research and policy. How can new research methods help us to better understand health inequalities, and how can better science help policymakers to reduce health inequalities more effectively?

#AGU21: Science is Society
The AGU Fall Meeting is the primary gathering for Earth and space scientists, students, and those in affiliated fields to share scientific findings and identify innovative solutions. With in-person and worldwide online participation, attendees will have numerous opportunities to network with government regulators, scientific visionaries, and industry thought-leaders. Join our diverse community in New Orleans and Online Everywhere 13 – 17 December 2021.

20th Swiss Climate Summer School 2022 – Extreme weather and climate
Swiss Climate Research, the network of leading Swiss institutions in climate research and education, invites young scientists (PhD students and postdocs) to join high-profile climate researchers in a scenic Swiss Alpine setting for keynote lectures, workshops and poster sessions on the occasion of the 20th Swiss Climate Summer School 2022.