European Geosciences Union general assembly 2013

The EGU General Assembly 2013 will bring together geoscientists from all over the world into one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. Especially for young scientists, it is the aim of the EGU to provide a forum where they can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geosciences. 

Special session

Global risk assessment for natural hazards: methods and practice

This session will address recent research in natural hazard risk assessment at the global scale, and discuss future research needs required to advance this rapidly developing field. The session also focuses on the inclusion of spatial and temporal aspects in risk assessments at the global scale.

The demand from stakeholders for information on natural hazard risks at the global scale has grown explosively in recent years, with several global flood risks playing a prominent role in several major reports (e.g. Global Assessment Reports (GAR) on Disaster Risk Reduction and IPCC SREX report). This has led to increased scientific research to develop new, and improve existing, methodologies for global risk assessment. Specific research needs include the assessment of risks at the global scale that specifically address both spatial and temporal changes in risk drivers, i.e. hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Such information is of key value to stakeholders such as (re-)insurers, development agencies, and disaster planning and preparedness institutes.

We invite contributions related to the full range of natural hazards, and to chains of hazards leading to worst-case scenarios. We encourage contributions focusing on the influence on risk of human systems and economic development; short-term variability in natural hazards; and short to long term changes in natural hazards. We also encourage contributions examining the use of scientific methods in practice, and the use of global risk assessment data in efforts to reduce risks.

Conveners of this session:

Philip Ward: Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam
Alanna Simpson: World Bank, GFDRR
Hessel Winsemius: Deltares
Florian Pappenberger: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

Keynote speaker: Pascal Peduzzi (UNEP) - The Global Assessment Report 2013