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Preventing and mitigating natural disasters |


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Global Assessment of Sand and Dust Storms
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ; United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) - UNEP, 2016The specific objectives of the assessment are to:
1. Synthesise and highlight the environmental and socio-economic causes and impacts of SDS, as well as available technical measures for their mitigation, at the local, regional and global levels.
2. Show how the mitigation of SDS can yield multiple sustainable development benefits.
3. Synthesize information on current policy responses for mitigating SDS.
4. Present options for an improved strategy for mitigating SDS at the local, regional and global levels, building on existing institutions and agreements.
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Available online: Full text
United Nations Environment Programme ; World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ; United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Published by: UNEP ; 2016The specific objectives of the assessment are to:
1. Synthesise and highlight the environmental and socio-economic causes and impacts of SDS, as well as available technical measures for their mitigation, at the local, regional and global levels.
2. Show how the mitigation of SDS can yield multiple sustainable development benefits.
3. Synthesize information on current policy responses for mitigating SDS.
4. Present options for an improved strategy for mitigating SDS at the local, regional and global levels, building on existing institutions and agreements.
The report first presents the science of sand and dust storm processes, which forms a foundation for technical and policy options for mitigating SDS. Section 2 describes the causes of sand and dust storms, their direct and indirect drivers and their inter-relationships. Section 3 provides an overview of SDS state and trends including global and regional characteristics and anthropogenic sources. Section 4 provides an overview of the environmental, social and economic impacts of SDS, including those on human health. Section 5 describes initiatives for monitoring and prediction and warning systems for SDS. Section 6 gives an overview of technical measures available for mitigating SDS at different scales. Section 7 provides an overview and examples of current national, regional and global policy initiatives before synthesizing the information from the preceding sections into a framework for policy action for mitigating SDS. The report also includes an appendix of case studies of regional and national actions and studies aimed at monitoring and mitigating SDS.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)ISBN (or other code): 978-92-807-3551-2
Tags: Sandstorm ; Dust storm ; Preventing and mitigating natural disasters
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Strengthening urban resilience in Bangladesh
This brochure is part of a series highlighting the World Bank's achievements in disaster risk management initiatives. The brochure offers lessons learned on managing disaster risk and promoting urban resilience and it presents Bangladesh's path-breaking Urban Resilience Project, the product of a collaborative effort among the government, the World Bank, and GFDRR, which equips key government agencies with state-of-the art emergency management facilities and improves construction permitting processes.
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Available online: https://olc.worldbank.org/content/strengthening-urban-resilience-bangladesh
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the ; World Bank
Published by: GFDRR ; 2015This brochure is part of a series highlighting the World Bank's achievements in disaster risk management initiatives. The brochure offers lessons learned on managing disaster risk and promoting urban resilience and it presents Bangladesh's path-breaking Urban Resilience Project, the product of a collaborative effort among the government, the World Bank, and GFDRR, which equips key government agencies with state-of-the art emergency management facilities and improves construction permitting processes.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Preventing and mitigating natural disasters ; Urban zone ; Bangladesh
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Working as one : a road map to disaster resilience for Australia
Barnes Paul; Bergin Anthony; Nichola Daniel; et al. - Australian government publishing service, 2014This special report offers a roadmap for enhancing Australia’s disaster resilience, building on the 2011 National Strategy for Disaster Resilience. It includes a snapshot of relevant issues and current resilience efforts in Australia, outlining key challenges and opportunities. It sets out 11 recommendations to help guide Australia towards increasing national resilience, from individuals and local communities through to state and federal agencies.
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Available online: https://www.aspi.org.au/publications/working-as-one-a-road-map-to-disaster-resil [...]
Paul Barnes ; Anthony Bergin ; Daniel Nichola ; Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Published by: Australian government publishing service ; 2014This special report offers a roadmap for enhancing Australia’s disaster resilience, building on the 2011 National Strategy for Disaster Resilience. It includes a snapshot of relevant issues and current resilience efforts in Australia, outlining key challenges and opportunities. It sets out 11 recommendations to help guide Australia towards increasing national resilience, from individuals and local communities through to state and federal agencies.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Preventing and mitigating natural disasters ; Disaster prevention and preparedness ; Australia
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SPC SOPAC Published Report, 171. Preliminary benefit cost analysis of storm surge hazard mitigation in the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia
In order to assist Pacific overseas countries and territories (OCTs) develop resilience to natural hazards, the European Union (EU) has commissioned the SOPAC Division of the SPC to work alongside OCTs to increase the protection and management of the coastal environment. The project, which falls under the European Development Fund (EDF) 9 C Envelope, will focus on the analysis, development and efficient implementation of the disaster risk solutions in Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, the Pitcairn Islands and French Polynesia. This document forms part of the work undertaken for French Polynesi ...
Preliminary benefit cost analysis of storm surge hazard mitigation in the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia
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Published by: Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) ; 2013
In order to assist Pacific overseas countries and territories (OCTs) develop resilience to natural hazards, the European Union (EU) has commissioned the SOPAC Division of the SPC to work alongside OCTs to increase the protection and management of the coastal environment. The project, which falls under the European Development Fund (EDF) 9 C Envelope, will focus on the analysis, development and efficient implementation of the disaster risk solutions in Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, the Pitcairn Islands and French Polynesia. This document forms part of the work undertaken for French Polynesia. Specifically, this document provides a preliminary benefit cost analysis of different adaptation options for the Government of French Polynesia to combat coastal flooding in Rangiroa, in the Tuamotu Archipelago.
Collection(s) and Series: SPC SOPAC Published Report- No. 171
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Storm surge ; Preventing and mitigating natural disasters ; French Polynesia
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Best practices for reducing the risk of future damage to homes from riverine and urban flooding
This paper sets out 12 recommendations on actions the Government of Alberta can take to reduce the risk of flood damage to homes. It was prepared at the request of the Insurance Bureau of Canada following the flooding in southern Alberta in June 2013, which resulted in four fatalities and unprecedented damage to property. Using this window of opportunity, the paper demonstrates that most disaster damage can be prevented through the application of existing and emerging knowledge about building disaster resilient communities and invites the Government of Alberta and other stakeholders to take ac ...
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Available online: http://preventionweb.net/go/34812
Published by: Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) ; 2013
This paper sets out 12 recommendations on actions the Government of Alberta can take to reduce the risk of flood damage to homes. It was prepared at the request of the Insurance Bureau of Canada following the flooding in southern Alberta in June 2013, which resulted in four fatalities and unprecedented damage to property. Using this window of opportunity, the paper demonstrates that most disaster damage can be prevented through the application of existing and emerging knowledge about building disaster resilient communities and invites the Government of Alberta and other stakeholders to take action to reduce the risk of loss from flooding, tornadoes, wildfires and other perils.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)ISBN (or other code): 978-192-79290-0
Tags: Preventing and mitigating natural disasters ; Flood ; Canada
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Paving the way for national drought policies: In FAO Issues in the Spotlight, July 2013
FAO, 2013Underscoring that droughts affect more people annually than any other type of natural disaster, the July edition of 'Issues in the Spotlight' of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) describes the increased international attention given to national drought policies in the lead up to, and following. the first High-Level Meeting on National Drought Policy.
The newsletter calls for policy makers to break the crisis management cycle and move toward pro-active risk management strategies. It describes the Declaration adopted at the conclusion of the High-Level Meeting ...
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DRR-Factsheet. Early warning systems saves millions of lives
Early warning systems (EWS) are a critical life-saving tool for floods, droughts, storms, bushfires and other hazards. Recorded economic losses linked to extreme hydro-meteorological events have increased nearly 50 times over the past five decades, but the global loss of life has decreased significantly, by a factor of about 10, thus millions of lives are being saved (Fig. 1). This has been attributed to advancements in monitoring and forecasting linked to effective emergency preparedness and response planning on the national and local levels (Box 1).
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DRR-Factsheet. Building on International and Regional Cooperation in Meteorology for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
About 90 per cent of disasters are caused by hazards related to weather, climate or water such as droughts, tropical cyclones and floods. These hazards know no national boundaries. International cooperation at a global and regional scale is therefore essential. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the authoritative voice of the United Nations (UN) on weather, climate and water, facilitates this cooperation through the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of its 191 Members [...]
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Flood Management Tool Series, Technical Document, 13. Conservation and Restoration of Rivers and Floodplains
The tool aims at assisting practitioners mainly through reviewing and describing options for conservation and restoration of rivers and floodplains that can potentially assist flood management practitioners in addressing various flood management objectives, and providing an overview of current practices that could help flood management practitioners in identifying and establishing the values of ecosystem services generated under different conservation, restoration and flood management scenarios.
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Climate change, water stress, conflict and migration
UNESCO, 2012This collection of papers, presented at the symposium ‘Climate change, water stress, conflict and migration’ held on 21 September 2011 in the Netherlands, highlight how climate change, water stress and other environmental problems threaten human security. For example, the paper by Muniruzzaman ilustrates how water ignores political and community boundaries, and how decisions in one place can significantly affect water use elsewhere. India’s plans to build more dams could, for instance, have devastating affects for Pakistan’s agricultural productivity which is highly dependent on water supply f ...
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Republic of Rwanda: disaster high risk zones on floods and landslides
MIDIMAR, 2012This document identifies all areas prone to floods and landslides in Rwanda for effective prevention, mitigation and preparedness planning mechanisms. It is intended to: (i) identify and map all areas prone to floods and landslides; (ii) increase knowledge on areas at risk in the country for effective Disaster Risk Reduction in Rwanda; (iii) create scientifically driven explanations on the main causes of vulnerability caused by floods and landslides; and (iv) help the local community to understand the natural phenomena/hazards that they are exposed to and raise their awareness for disaster ris ...
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Learning lessons: intense climate-related natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific
ADB, 2012This synthesis addresses the global increase in frequency of intense floods and storms in Asia and the Pacific amid the spectre of climate change, and points to the need for better mitigation and adaptation to natural disasters. It presents the lessons drawn from evaluations of information sourced from publicly available databases
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Safari's encounter with coastal and marine hazards : UNISUNISDR Africa educational series, vol. 4, issue 1:
UN/ISDR, 2012This booklet targets primary school children to sensitize them to the causes, impacts and mitigation of coastal and marine hazards, such as cyclone, tsunami, storm surge and flood, as well as other natural hazards such as drought, oil spill, ‘red tide’ and ‘brown tide’, and city fire.
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Forests and landlides : the role of forests and forestry in the prevention and rehabilitation of landslides in Asia
FAO, 2012Between 1950 and 2009 landslides claimed the lives of almost 18 000 people in Asia and affected approximately 5.5 million people (EM-DAT 2010). If statistics were available for landslide impacts caused by earthquakes, these numbers would be many times greater. Landslides cause social, economic and environmental damage. Forest and agricultural resources are lost; infrastructure and heritage sites are damaged or destroyed. Landslide material can block rivers and increase downstream sedimentation, increasing the risk of floods. With predicted changes in rainfall and climate in the coming decades ...
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Vol. 28 No.1 - Special Issue: M.E.E.T.I.N.G - Mitigation of the Effect of Earthquakes in Towns and INdustrial reGional districticts
is an issue of Geofizika. Andrija Mohorovičić Geophysical Institute,, 2011
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