Knowledge Base highlights and editors' picks

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Every week the PreventionWeb team of editors selects the latest news and research, reports and publications on disaster risk reduction – here is their selection of the latest must-read content.

Update

20 September 2021

Fact Sheet: Biden administration mobilizes to protect workers and communities from extreme heat

New initiatives at OSHA and across agencies will enhance workplace safety, build local resilience, and address disproportionate heat impacts.

White House, the

Update

28 September 2021

Resilient finance: Closing the protection gap against disaster risk

Natural disasters are not infrequent in Europe. In the past 40 years, disasters cost on average EUR 12 billion losses each year. As compounding shocks rise, such as the ongoing pandemic and climate change, financial preparedness is key to recovery.

World Bank, the

Aerial shot of the gigantic city of Bogota, Colombia.

Update

15 September 2021

A protective eye on Bogotá

Aided by mobile mapping technology, Colombia detects buildings that may be vulnerable to disasters. Analysis aided by artificial intelligence can reveal earthquake-susceptible “soft-story buildings”.

World Bank, the

Update

28 September 2021

13-Year drought creates frightening ‘New Normal’ in South America

From Patagonia to Paraguay and from coast to rainforest, long-term drought is hammering South America—bearing the fingerprints of the climate crisis.

The Energy Mix

View from space on Fiji in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean and its coral reefs

Update

23 September 2021

How satellite technologies can aid Fiji and the Pacific to build climate resilience

One of the smallest carbon emitters, Fiji was the first country to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement. But the island country and its neighbours are experiencing the catastrophic effects of climate change unfolding in a fast forward mode.

Inter Press Service International Association

UNDP experts analyze flood risk management in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine

Update

28 September 2021

UNDP experts analyze flood risk management in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine

After analysing the risks of flooding in the most vulnerable communities in the Bukovyna region, a UNDP project team has drawn up recommendations on disaster risk reduction and recovery.

United Nations Development Programme - Ukraine

Update

28 September 2021

Italy's 'Smart Bay' seeks to tackle Mediterranean climate change

On Italy's Ligurian coast, biologists and environmentalists are working to tackle the effects of climate change in the Mediterranean with help from a so-called "Smart Bay".

Thomson Reuters

Update

27 September 2021

Desert locusts: Building Yemen’s capacity to prevent new swarms

Yemen is a key desert locust breeding ground, where swarms develop in several locations throughout the year and then disperse across the country and region, affecting the food security and livelihoods of tens of millions of people.

World Bank, the

Update

27 September 2021

Listen to young people: cultural practices can provide answers to the climate problem

For Papua New Guinean climate advocate Vinzealhar Nen, so much is at stake. Rising sea levels that threaten low-lying islands means more than just migrating to the mainland and starting over.

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Update

24 September 2021

China joins lower Mekong River countries to study impacts of climate change, dams

China and the countries of the lower Mekong River are teaming up for their largest joint study yet of the impacts climate change and hydropower dams are having on one of Asia's great waterways.

Voice of America