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2010 showed the major risks we have to cope with. There were a number of severe earthquakes. The hurricane season was also eventful – it was just fortunate that the tracks of most of the storms remained over the open sea. But things could have turned out very differently' said Torsten Jeworrek, Munich Re's Reinsurance CEO...

'There might be a view from the global community that there has been sufficient activity here to make some changes to [risk] ratings,' said Mark Senkevics, head of Australia and New Zealand for Swiss Re. 'It is likely, in my view, that will happen.'...

Thousands have been evacuated from the northeast coast of the country today as a massive cyclone hit towns and rural communities. Authorities have said that it could be the most destructive cyclone so far, reports Rob Taylor for Reuters AlertNet...

Scientists from the National Institue of Water and Atmospheric Research will join Geosciences Australia in assessing the impacts of the recent devastating floods. They hope to build a valuable base of information for assessment of economic impacts, and for future prevention and gain a better understanding of natural hazards...

'If we truly wish to reduce the scale of future disasters in Australia, we need risk-informed land planning policies with risks appropriately priced by an active insurance market. In simple terms, for flood and bushfire, this means an end to unmanaged development of flood plains or within bushlands, say Macquarie University's John McAneney and Kevin Roche...

Australia needs a fund to prepare for two disasters coming its way - climate change and biodiversity loss - writes Paul Sinclair Australian Conservation Foundation's healthy ecosystems programme manager, in a report for the Sydney Morning Herald...

Henry Ergas stresses that despite the rising cost of the recent flood damage, there is still a need to rebuild on a basis that manages future risks. 'There has been too much development, and too little investment in risk reduction, in disaster-prone areas' he writes, in an opinion piece for the Australian...

'What should be done to better prepare the country for large-scale events?' asks Erwann Michel-Kerjan, managing director of the US Wharton Business School's Risk Centre and chairman of the OECD High-Level Advisory Board on the financial management of catastrophes, in a report for the Australian....