Call for Nominations: Hazard Terminology Review

The International Science Council and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction set up in June 2019 a working group to look at the range of hazards relevant to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and their scientific definitions. The framework currently outlines seven clear targets and four priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks: (i) Understanding disaster risk; (ii) Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; (iii) Investing in disaster reduction for resilience and; (iv) Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The International Science Council are currently looking for a suitable person to review a 30-page draft final report produced by the Working Group during the month of April and provide the International Science Council with her/his assessment of its quality, value and potential uses. Once the report is formerly submitted to the International Science Council and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, it will be considered by International Science Council’s Committee on Scientific Planning and then the Board to decide on its publication, and next steps vis-à-vis the scientific and policy communities.

The project’s aim is two-fold:

1. to define the full range of hazards that are encompassed in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a global framework for action adopted in 2015 by all UN members states which has expanded the scope of disaster risk reduction to biological, environmental, geological, hydrometeorological and technological hazards;
2. to provide a scientific definition of all the hazards identified, drawing mostly on the internationally agreed UN definition and available scientific literature. This is intended to provide a common baseline for member states to report progress on disaster risk reduction on the hazards they identify as relevant to them.

This work is led by the a technical working group, jointly appointed by the International Science Council and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, chaired by Prof. Virginia Murray, Public Health England and member of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk programme, bringing together scientists and other experts from the United National system (The World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Environment Programme, the International Telecommunications Union, etc.) and the scientific community (Risk Knowledge Action Network, the International Science Council’s Committee on Data, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction regional scientific and technical advisory groups).

The outputs of the project include the 30-page report on the importance of a standardised and systematic approach to hazard identification and definition at the international level, and the process that has led the working group to identify a set of over 300 hazards. For each hazard, a two-page scientific description has also been developed.

To express an interest in being nominated as a reviewer by the Royal Irish Academy, please contact policy@ria.ie by Friday 3rd April.