News and announcements

'We're already spending billions on responding to storms and disasters made worse by climate change,' notes Matthias Ruth of Northeastern University; 'Sandy gave us a chance to think differently. Why don't we take that money and invest in infrastructure in ways to overcome the existing inefficiencies and improve quality of life?' he asks. 'And then as we do this, reduce the vulnerability'...

'Cuba has an enormous amount of deteriorated buildings that can’t withstand natural disasters,' said Ricardo Mena, Head of UNISDR's regional office in the Americas. He added that while a hospital, for example, might need rebuilding, 'that’s very costly and they don’t have the resources to do it'...

'We are never out of or lacking resources; we only need to effectively manage what we have so we can maximize on them. Developing resilience may be more effective if we provide adequate social protection especially to the poor, who bear the greatest economic losses in disasters,' said Senator Legarda...

'We thought that since the earthquake damage is much greater in this area, a programme focused on disaster risk reduction and safety would be an additional and beneficial way to help children recover,' said one CSO manager. 'We have even had some opportunities to role play and the children have found it very helpful in building their confidence and being prepared should another disaster strike'...

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and partners today launched the first-ever survey of people living with disabilities on their coping capacity in the face of a disaster event.

The City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, has released maps that indicate flash flood risks from the Waldo Canyon wildfire scar. The interactive maps are complete with addresses, flash flood risk areas and the potential impact of various precipitation amounts, reports Denver Post...

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Head of Division South Asia, Dr Thomas Helfen stated that 'Climate change calls for informed and integrated decision making. Compartmentalised sectoral knowledge and data is just not enough in the face of threats posed by climate change'...

At the end of the day, it is local communities that are at the center of adaption to climate change. Efforts to foster adaptation hinge on their awareness of the issues, and their owning the process and having the ability to undertake the appropriate activities...