At the ninth session of the Inter-Agency Task Force in May 2004 a working group on climate change and disaster risk reduction was established to share information between the disaster risk reduction and climate change communities, supported by the ISDR secretariat (see UN GA resolution 58/215 on Natural disasters and vulnerability). UNDP and WMO, with the support of the ISDR secretariat, developed the terms of reference and the first meeting of the group was held on 6 October 2004.

The members of the Working Group on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction met during the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction on 7 June 2007. The group discussion focused on future forms of collaboration and activities which should be undertaken over the next year.

The group agreed on the following three priority areas:

• Gathering and sharing good practices in climate risk-reduction,
• Providing policy guidance to UNFCCC processes on post-2012 regime, IPCC further assessment and development advocacy tools, and
• Developing methods for reducing the carbon footprint of ISDR system processes.

This Working Group, co-chaired by UNDP and WMO produced the following products:

• Climate Change and Disaster Risks, ISDR Recommendations for Action Now and Post-Kyoto
• Disaster Risk Reduction Tools and Methods for Climate Change Adaptation
• On Better Terms: A Glance at Key Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Concepts

Working Group focal point ISDR secretariat:
Glenn Dolcemascolo: dolcemascolo[at]un.org

Working Group Members

Collaborating Organizations