Abstract
Weather-climate and geophysical hazards create many disasters around the world and the impacts have been devastating on many communities and countries. Over the decades there has been significant international scientific response, much of it organized by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and its partners in the United Nations system, especially the World Meteorological Organization and UNESCO. There is also an international policy response. For example, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the related Millennium Development Goals and the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan in 2005, which agreed on the Hyogo Framework for Action. Through the deliberations of an ISCU-sponsored process, a new international research program Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) – the challenge of natural and human-induced environmental hazards – has now been initiated, with the support of ICSU, the International Social Sciences Council and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. The focus of the research programme is on disaster risk and disaster risk reduction and takes an integrated approach to natural and human-induced environmental hazards through a combination of natural, socio-economic, health and engineering sciences, including socio-economic analysis, understanding the role of communications, and public and political response to reduce the risk. The legacy of IRDR will be an enhanced capacity around the world to address hazards and make informed decisions on actions to reduce their impacts. The IRDR Scientific Objectives are: 1: Characterization of hazards, vulnerability and risk; 2: Understanding decision-making in complex and changing risk contexts; 3: Reducing risk and curbing losses through knowledge-based actions. There are cross-cutting themes and approaches on: Capacity building; Case studies and demonstration projects; and Assessment, data management and monitoring.
Presentation to 33rd International Geological Congress, Oslo, August 2008
Presented on behalf of the Members of the ICSU Planning Group on Natural and Human-induced Environmental Hazards and Disasters: G. McBean (Canada, Chair); T. Beer (Australia); I. Burton (Canada); C.-J. Chen (Taiwan); O.P. Dube (Botswana); J. R. Eiser (UK); F. Lúcio (Mozambique); H. Gupta (India); W. Hooke (USA); R. Keller (USA); A. Lavell (Costa Rica); D. Murdiyarso (Indonesia); V. Osipov (Russia); S. Sparks (UK); H. Moore (ICSU)
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Notes
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Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters – http://www.emdat.be (EM-DAT)
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Part of the increase in numbers of disasters reported in disaster statistics may be explained by the increasing numbers of smaller and medium-level events that are registered as being related to natural and human-induced or socio-natural phenomena (ISDR 2007) and by better reporting mechanisms.
- 3.
MunichRe 2006 Topics Geo – Natural catastrophes 2006 Analyses, assessments, positions. Copyright 2007 Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft, Königinstrasse 107, 80802 München, Germany, Order number 302-05217 (available at http://www.Munichre.com)
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The Millennium Declaration of 2000 – see http://www.un.org XXX
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ioc-unesco-org
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wcrp.wmo.int/wcrp-index.html
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UN IDNDR Goals: (b) To devise appropriate guidelines and strategies for applying existing scientific and technical knowledge, taking into account the cultural and economic diversity among nations; (d) To disseminate existing and new technical information related to measures for the assessment, prediction and mitigation of natural disasters; (e) To develop measures for the assessment, prediction, prevention and mitigation of natural disasters through programmes of technical assistance and technology transfer, demonstration projects, and education and training, tailored to specific disasters and locations, and to evaluate the effectiveness of those programmes.
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Report of the CSPR Assessment Panel on Environment and its Relation to Sustainable Development
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unfccc.int/essential_background/items/2877.php
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World Summit on Sustainable Development http://www.un.org/events/wssd leading to a plan of action on the Millennium Development Goals http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
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World Conference on Disaster Reduction http://www.unisdr.org/wcdr
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Hyogo Framework for Action http://www.unisdr.org/wcdr/intergover/official-doc/L-docs/Hyogo-framework-for-action-english.pdf
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International Social Sciences Council – http://www.unesco.org/ngo/issc/
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Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters – http://www.emdat.be (EM-DAT) and MunichRe Group information – http://www.munichre.com/en/publications/default.aspx?publicationLanguage=2&category=17
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ISDR GP reference
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IDRC International Disaster and Risk Conference – http://www.idrc.info
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WSSF reference
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International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics – http://www.iugg.org
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International Union of Geological Sciences – http://www.iugs.org
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International Union of Soil Sciences – http://www.iuss.org
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International Geographical Union – http://www.igu-net.org
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International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing – http://www.isprs.org
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International Year of Planet Earth – Yearofplanetearth.org
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International Consortium on Landslides – http://www.iclhq.org
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International Geoscience Programme – http://www.unesco.org/science/earth/igcp.shtml
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World Organization of Volcano Observatories – http://www.wovo.org
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WMO NDPMP
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WWRP
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International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change – http://www.ihdp.unu.edu/ – new project Integrated Risk Governance
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British Psychological Society – http://www.bps.org.uk
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European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations – http://www.efpa.eu
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GRIP Global Risk Identification Programme – http://www.undp.org/cpr/we_do/disaster_global_risk_id.shtml
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Global Change System for Analysis Research and Training (START) – http://www.start.org
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IAI
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Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery – gfdrr.org
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International Council for Science: Committee on Data for Science and Technology – http://www.codata.org
- 43.
IGOS Geohazards Initiative – igosg.brgm.fr/
- 44.
Global Earth Observation System of Systems – http://www.earthobservations.org
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank all the members of the ICSU Scoping and Planning groups on Natural and Human-induced Environmental Hazards and Disasters and the ICSU staff (Peter Collins, Howard Moore, Maureen Brennan and others) for their contributions and to ICSU and its supporters for the financial support to enable the Groups to meet and carry out their deliberations.
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McBean, G.A. (2009). Introduction of a New International Research Program: Integrated Research on Disaster Risk - The Challenge of Natural and Human-Induced Environmental Hazards. In: Beer, T. (eds) Geophysical Hazards. International Year of Planet Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3236-2_5
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