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Title	Date	Type
IPCC puts risk reduction at centre of climate debate The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has put disaster risk reduction at the centre of the climate change debate with the weekend publication of its Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (IPCC SREX).	21 Nov 2011	News briefs
UN Secretary-General urges ASEAN to take on global role UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has highlighted disaster risk reduction as a major area where the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can work together to assist vulnerable people.	21 Nov 2011	News briefs
Kristianstad inspires with flood protection measures The municipality of Kristianstad in Southern Sweden, one of over a thousand cities that have now joined UNISDR’s World Disaster Reduction Campaign (2010-2015) - Making Cities Resilient: "My city is getting ready" was recently awarded role model status by UNISDR.	22 Nov 2011	News briefs
IPCC SREX important for Hyogo Framework implementation says Norway It was over three years in the making but after one final all-night negotiation in Kampala last Friday, the IPCC Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) was agreed by the member governments clearing the way for the publication of the full report early next year.	23 Nov 2011	News briefs
Action plan for disaster risk reduction takes shape in the Arab region The League of Arab States (LAS) and UNISDR move one step closer to a plan of action on disaster risk reduction for the Arab region. The action plan is expected to be endorsed at the first-ever Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Arab region planned for 2012.	23 Nov 2011	News briefs
Risk reduction critical to Timor-Leste development plans Following a three-day visit to Timor-Leste, the top UN disaster risk reduction official, Margareta Wahlström, said environmental degradation and disasters could threaten a visionary development strategy and budget presented by the Government to the Parliament.	24 Nov 2011	News briefs
IPCC authors speak out on special report Following agreement on the Summary for Policymakers, the authors of the 800-page Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) will be busy between now and the end of the year reconciling the changes agreed by IPCC member governments to the Summary with the text of the nine final chapters which will make up the SREX when it is published early next year.	25 Nov 2011	News briefs
OECD warns of irreversible, catastrophic climate change Despite the goal set at the Cancun climate talks last year to stabilize the global average temperature increase at 2°C, a forthcoming report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 'Environmental Outlook to 2050' warns that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue to increase.	25 Nov 2011	News briefs
UNISDR supports Philippines to build national disaster loss database It's one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Over the last twenty years a yearly average of some four million people have been affected by disasters in the Philippines each year and over 33,000 people have lost their lives in 363 major reported events.	28 Nov 2011	News briefs
Alpine cities feel heat from climate change In Tyrol, Austria, a poster showing a green valley with snow-capped mountains in the distance greeted delegates to a conference on climate change – a beautiful summer scene which hides a potential nightmare scenario for winter tourism in the alps.	29 Nov 2011	News briefs
Managing risk critical for aid effectiveness UN disaster risk reduction chief Margareta Wahlström speaking at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, Republic of Korea, said that managing risk is crucial to safeguard investments in poverty-stricken Africa and Asia, where countries can lose as much as a fifth of their GDP to disasters each year.	30 Nov 2011	News briefs
Disaster reduction critical to HIV/AIDS reduction Feng Min Kan, a Senior Advisor at the UN disaster risk reduction office (UNISDR) admits that not a lot of people immediately see the connection between disasters and AIDS. "It’s just one of those issues that are not very obvious and slips under the radar".	1 Dec 2011	News briefs
Invest today for a safer tomorrow says President Zuma South African President, Jacob Zuma, borrowed the UNISDR slogan "invest today for a safer tomorrow" when he spoke today at the opening of the Durban Local Government Convention which aims to develop an Adaptation Charter this weekend which will feed into the high-level segment of the UNFCCC-COP17 climate change negotiations.	2 Dec 2011	News briefs
ICLEI takes the lead on climate change Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) is the driving force behind a major effort to have the voices of cities and local governments heard at the UNFCC-COP17 climate negotiations in Durban.	2 Dec 2011	News briefs
DRR and climate change adaptation key to reducing extreme weather events Linking disaster risk and climate change is key to reducing the impacts of extreme weather events that have increasingly been on the rise, according to a high level debate today at the Climate Change talks in COP-17 in Durban. The discussions were part of a UNISDR side-event showcasing experiences on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR).	3 Dec 2011	News briefs
Adaptation Charter – good start to the week The Durban Climate Change Adaptation Charter for Local Government adopted yesterday was hailed by UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlstrom, as "the best possible start to a critical week in the life of this planet when we so urgently need real leadership on mitigation and adaptation."	5 Dec 2011	News briefs
UNISDR welcomes local government focus on climate adaptation The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today welcomed the Durban Climate Change Adaptation Charter for Local Government agreed yesterday by Mayors from around the world as "the best possible start to a critical week in the life of this planet when we so urgently need real leadership on mitigation and adaptation.	5 Dec 2011	Press release
Risk reduction must be priority in COP17 talks says IPU Parliamentarians from around the world gathered in Durban, South Africa, yesterday to press for progress in the COP17 climate change negotiations and called on the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) "to prioritize disaster risk reduction and capacity building as cross-cutting issues and to give them the utmost attention."	6 Dec 2011	News briefs
UNISDR launches policy brief on building resilience in Africa According to a new UNISDR policy brief launched today at the Durban COP 17, although African countries are committed to reducing flood and drought risks, current investments are found to be wanting, particularly in development sectors.	6 Dec 2011	News briefs
Turn the science into action on climate change says UNISDR Chief UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, told an exclusive gathering of 35 eminent scientists and politicians from around the world at the COP 17 in Durban that "there is a huge need to translate the best science on climate change into practical action."	7 Dec 2011	News briefs
No climate fund, No poverty reduction? The President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, told a major forum at the COP17 talks in Durban yesterday that ”failing to fund climate change is failing to fund poverty reduction.”	8 Dec 2011	News briefs
Mexico City brings some good news to COP17 While good news remains in short supply from the main climate change talks here in Durban, there is a growing sense that local government is taking the lead on mitigation and adaptation without waiting for their central governments to direct their efforts.	8 Dec 2011	News briefs
Durban decision imminent on Green Climate Fund Ten years after the first Funds were established to support adaptation activities in developing countries, the world, and Africa in particular, is waiting to see if a deal can be brokered this weekend at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban which would amount to a quantum leap in the finance available to reduce disaster risk in countries bearing the brunt of climate change.	9 Dec 2011	News briefs
Disasters now key in multinational country assessments Disaster risk is now a key factor influencing the way corporations look at living standards, particularly when structuring compensation packages for expatriate employees.	12 Dec 2011	News briefs
Venice braces for climate change It's one of the world's greatest cultural attractions. About 20 million tourists pour through its streets each year and travel its waterways. Venice, Italy, sits at sea level, and any changes in the mean sea level leaves the city open to floods, endangering the artistic and cultural heritage of this 1,000-year old UNESCO world heritage site.	13 Dec 2011	News briefs
Strengthening impact of cities campaign The UN office for disaster risk reduction, UNISDR, and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability have completed a four-month pilot test of the Local Government Self-Assessment Tool (LG-SAT) designed to help disaster risk reduction efforts in over 1,000 cities and local governments that have signed up to UNISDR's global "Making Cities Resilient" Campaign. LG-SAT has been made possible with funding from the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid branch, ECHO.	14 Dec 2011	News briefs
Local and hi-tech responses needed when disaster strikes in Africa Acting Director for UNISDR, Helena Molin Valdes, spoke to SciDevNet about the need for improving access to information in dealing with disasters, during the four-day Eye on Earth Summit in Abu Dhabi from 12-15 December.	15 Dec 2011	News briefs
Crisis Mapping and Disaster Risk Reduction Crisis mapping has emerged in the last five years as a dynamic and open way to visualize and report on crisis and disasters. With increasing internet connectivity, mobile phone use, and user-generated content, 'crowdsourcing' is gaining traction by taking advantage of information communication technology (ICT) that allows communities and networks to answer some of the world’s most pressing issues.	16 Dec 2011	News briefs
Philippines tragedy underlines need for improved risk management The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today extended her sympathy to the people of Mindanao in the Philippines, following the great loss of life resulting from Typhoon Sendong.	19 Dec 2011	News briefs
Typhoon Sendong – Chronicle of a disaster foretold President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines today declared a “National State of Calamity” as the official death toll from Typhoon Sendong reached almost 1,000 and 338,000 people remain affected in 13 southern and central provinces. Almost 50,000 people who lost their homes are in shelters.	20 Dec 2011	News briefs