A planet remade? How solar geoengineering may deliberately change (y)our climate – and how we understand risk

October 29, 2020 11:10 am Published by Leave a comment

  

A planet remade? How solar geoengineering may deliberately change (y)our climate – and how we understand risk

Organizer: Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre

We are entering the era of climate change consequences. Regional and local impacts are becoming more manifest. An increasingly feasible technological option that was once seen as crazy and taboo is now gaining momentum: “solar geoengineering”. Also known as solar radiation management (SRM), it essentially consists of blocking sunlight to cool down the planet: a deliberate, large-scale intervention in the global climate system to try to help manage and reduce climate change risks. In the context of tipping points or runaway climate change scenarios, models suggest that SRM could help reduce impacts on some of the most vulnerable, but global power dynamics are not set up to ensure that the interests of the most vulnerable are elicited, considered, and addressed. Join this intensely interactive session to engage with the basics of science, technology, policy, ethics, and risk management dimensions of how solar geoengineering may reshape our future – and what it all means for the UR community.

Speakers:
Pablo Suarez, Associated Director Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre

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Implementing real-time disaster risk models: Collaborations across government, non-profits, academia and private sector in Mozambique and the Bahamas

October 29, 2020 11:07 am Published by Leave a comment

  

Implementing real-time disaster risk models: Collaborations across government, non-profits, academia and private sector in Mozambique and the Bahamas

Organizer: Direct Relief, Facebook Data for Good, Pacific Disaster Center, Harvard School of Public Health

During the response to Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique, and Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas, new collaborations emerged to support response activities in real-time through modeling of key risks. Direct Relief, Facebook’s Data for Good team, Nethope, Harvard School of Public Health, World Health Organization, Pacific Disaster Center, and the governments of the respective affected countries combined efforts to model the spread of infectious diseases like cholera, displacement of population and loss of communications, in support of a range of response operations. These partnerships proved essential to the emerging capacity of predictive modeling to play an immediate practical role in response to emergencies by determining precise informational needs, framing key questions in pragmatic ways, supporting government capacities with access to spatial informatics, expanding rapid access to relevant data at appropriate scales, quickly employing academic and private sector expertise, and translating model outputs between implementers and researchers. This workshop will look at the modeling and response partnerships which occurred between the events in Mozambique and The Bahamas in order to build upon these efforts for the sake of improved real-time integration of predictive modeling at early stages of disasters.

Speakers:
Andrew Schroeder, VP of Research and Analysis
Alex Pompe, Research Manager – Data for Good
Rebecca Kahn, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Erin Hughey, Director of Global Operations

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Access the past and foretell the future: Peering into the crystal ball of early action

October 29, 2020 11:03 am Published by Leave a comment

  

 

Access the past and foretell the future: Peering into the crystal ball of early action

Organizer: NASA and IFRC

From earth observations and weather forecasts to machine learning and predictive modeling, the science and technology of today enables people and organizations to collect decades of data and improve our understanding of future risks. Whether we are preparing to host displaced populations, anticipating destructive floods, alerting urban inhabitants to take action to protect themselves against heat waves or mitigating the risk of famine, information is being used to make increasingly complex decisions about constantly shifting vulnerabilities. Despite this progress, information does not always lead to action before crisis unfolds. New approaches are needed to bridge the gap in moving from information to decisions – this includes new partnerships across the humanitarian sector and beyond. This workshop intends to actively engage participants in proposing and identifying different types of solutions, with a focus on the intersection of social science, data science, and climate science. It will also provide a fun and informal networking opportunity between participants and the different types of partnerships available in to advance the science, technology and communications necessary for the development and scaling up of innovative solutions towards early / anticipatory action.

This session will be divided into two parts. In the first part, we will learn from experts about the different solutions applied to help organizations and individual to act ahead of an impending crisis through science, pre-planning and financing. Participants will be invited to share their expertise and identify other tools or approaches to enable early / anticipatory action. In the second part, partnerships and initiatives will tell us what they do, what they can offer and why you should collaborate with them to enable the scale up of early action. Speakers include experts from the Anticipation Hub, Climate Risk Early Warning Systems Initiative, Earth Observation for Humanitarian Action, German Red Cross, Humanitarian Open Street Map, InsuResilience Global Partnership, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and the World Bank. Imagine your ideal platform for knowledge exchange and networking. Tell us your ideas! Kick back, relax and join us in this matchmaking fun!

Speakers:
Kara Siahaan, Early Action and Disaster Risk Financing Coordinator, IFRC, Anticipation Hub Lead for Network and Policy, Anticipation Hub
Shanna McClain, Global Partnerships Manager, NASA
Rebecca Firth, Director of Community and Partnerships, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
John Harding, Head of Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems
Nicola Ranger, Senior Consultant for Crisis and Disaster Risk Financing, World Bank
Daniel Stadtmüller, Senior Policy Advisor and Team Lead, InsuResilience Secretariat
Madhab Uprety, Technical Advisor, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Ben Webster, Head of REAP Secretariat
Stefanie Lux, Lead, Anticipation Unit at the German Red Cross

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How disaster risk data is driving public investment in Haiti

October 29, 2020 11:01 am Published by Leave a comment

  

How disaster risk data is driving public investment in Haiti

Organizer: CKIC + IDRC +GIZ

Haiti is one of the most exposed country to natural disaster. Geo-spatial data and risk information have been used to improving the density of shelter and their geographic distribution. In this session we will present how the problem has been tackled using an “human approach” and how we are laying the foundation to support the decision though an optimization problem automated algorithm.

Speakers:
Boby Emmanuel Piard, General Director
Scott Ferguson, Senior Flood Risk Specialist
Giovanni Michele Toglia, Data Management and IT Specialist
Maedeh Sharbaf, PhD Student

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From darkness to illumination: Climate grief and resilience in a sea of warnings

October 29, 2020 11:00 am Published by Leave a comment

  

From darkness to illumination: Climate grief and resilience in a sea of warnings

Organizer: Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt

It’s getting scary: our global climate is changing, and humanity is not doing what’s needed to properly address causes and consequences. If you are informed and sensitive, you confront an inescapable fact: unbearable suffering is coming. Join this unconventional session combining neuroscience, methods from humanitarian teams working in high-stress contexts, and participatory cartoons, to help us collectively explore the growing issue of “Climate Grief”(broadly: depression, anxiety, mourning, etc.) The goal: Improve our collective ability to anticipate, diagnose, and provide proper support, harnessing the power of darkness to pursue illumination and transformative action in a changing climate.

Speakers:
Pablo Suarez, Associated Director Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Peter Hong, Advisor, Google & Alphabet (Empathy, EQ, Behavioral Science)
Jessica von Farkas, Regional Network Organizer Northamerica, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt
Ea Akasha, Technical Advisor , IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support

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From Principles to Action: Enabling Locally Led Adaptation

October 29, 2020 10:58 am Published by Leave a comment

  

From Principles to Action: Enabling Locally Led Adaptation

Organizer: WRI / Global Commission on Adaptation *this session is part of the Development & Climate Days

This session is part of the Development & Climate Days.While it is widely accepted that climate change impacts are felt at the local level, adaptation finance rarely reaches the local level and it is rarer still for local-level stakeholders to lead their own adaptation efforts. Under the Global Commission on Adaptation, World Resources Institute and International Institute for Environment and Development are proposing a set of eight principles to catalyze adaptation that is truly owned and led by local actors. This session outlines these principles and includes a “hard talk” panel during which panelists will be asked to explain how their organization’s work aligns with the principles and lay out potential measures for enhancing commitment to locally led adaptation action.

Speakers:
Sophie De Coninck, Facility Manager, LoCAL
Gebru Jember Endalew, Chair, Least Developed Countries Group (LDC Group)
Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio, Action Track Co-Manager, Global Commission on Adaptation, World Resources Institute
Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA)
Demetrio Innocenti, SAP Manager, Division of Mitigation and Adaptation, Green Climate Fund
Juan Chang, Principal Forest and Land-Use Specialist Division of Mitigation and Adaptation/ GCF
Clare Shakya, Director of Climate Change at the International Institute for Environment and Development

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From black swans to boiling frogs: How to understand risk, visualize risk scenarios, and build agency for early action

October 29, 2020 10:57 am Published by Leave a comment

  

From black swans to boiling frogs: How to understand risk, visualize risk scenarios, and build agency for early action

Organizer: NASA and Earth Observatory of Singapore

A myriad of risks exist, but it is our understanding and action in regard to these events that often lead to greater loss of lives and to livelihoods. The transition to naming these events as black swans, grey rhinos, boiling frogs, and more has evolved as a pedagogical tool to help us understand events that can be high impact but low probability (i.e., solar flares), high impact and high probability (i.e., COVID19), or high impact but consider the creeping element of time (i.e., climate change). Rather than focus on what we “could have done” following a disaster, this session intends to unpack the complexities of risk to better understand and visualize these risks and their impacts, as well as offer opportunities to enable action ahead of impact.

Speakers:
Shanna McClain, Global Partnerships Manager, NASA
Yolanda Lin, Assistant Professor
Emma Flaherty, Thematic Lead- Implementation at Risk Informed Early Action Partnership
Shayna Skolnik, CEO, Navteca

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Crossroads: Managing intersecting risks of conflict, violence, disasters and climate change

October 29, 2020 10:54 am Published by Leave a comment

  

Crossroads: Managing intersecting risks of conflict, violence, disasters and climate change

Organizer: GIZ, UNDP, ODI, IFRC, ICRC, EU

In many countries of AFR, MENA and EAP, communities are affected by both natural hazards, the impacts of climate change and protracted crisis associated with fragility, conflict and violence (FCV). Furthermore, risks of violence and natural hazards tend to compound each other. Fragile and conflict-affected contexts represent the locations most in need of support, as vulnerability to natural hazards are highest in contexts where capacities to cope are insufficient. For example, recent assessments in conflict affected counties of Kenya indicate that extreme events, particularly droughts, contribute to violent conflict when it negatively impacts people’s livelihoods, displaces people and increases migration in vulnerable and natural resource-dependent contexts. Just as different risks can reinforce each other, mechanisms to address disaster and conflict can potentially be mutually reinforcing. Experiences in disaster recovery processes show that in practice the tunnel vision of relevant communities that should cooperate and synergize does not happen sufficiently, i.e. disaster and risk management institutions are not sensitive enough to unresolved or potential conflicts; and environmental and climate change related institutions do not necessarily interact with DRR responsible institutions. Neither do policies in the three fields: climate change, disaster risk management/reduction, and peacebuilding/conflict prevention. And yet, the impacts are significant, on economies, livelihoods, and lives: 58% of disaster deaths occurred in the top 30 fragile states. Climate change is further complicating this picture. A number of humanitarian and development agencies have been struggling with these issues for some time and are interested in sharing knowledge and co-developing solutions that can be applied at the operational level. Building upon a series of dialogues that have been taking place—thus far, this session aims to explore ongoing approaches in several country experiences to address the intersection of DRM/CCA/FCV, engage more practitioners (both humanitarian and development) working in the FCV space, and contribute to a community of practice on this issue. Specifically, this session will discuss practical approaches to both address disaster and climate risk management in FCV contexts and explore how conflict prevention/peace building can contribute to disaster and climate resilience.

Speakers:
Katie Peters , Senior Research Fellow
Karim Soumana, Diplomat. Niger Security Council 2020-21 Expert
Karin Janz, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Florence Pichon, Climate and Disaster Risk Researcher, World Bank
Dr. Catherine-Lune Grayson, Policy Advisor – Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy Division, ICRC
Isabelle Granger, Legislative advocacy coordinator at the IFRC
Margaret Arnold, Social Development Advisor, World Bank

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Evaluating COVID-19 transmission in cities: The COVID-19 City Disaster Vulnerability Index

October 29, 2020 10:40 am Published by Leave a comment

  

Evaluating COVID-19 transmission in cities: The COVID-19 City Disaster Vulnerability Index

Organizer: World Bank

Most governments around the world continue to grapple with containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and determining appropriate measures to keep economies running with minimum costs to health systems and livelihoods. As with disaster risk, one thing we are learning is that really understanding the spread of the virus at a more granular level can help decision-makers address some of their critical challenges. This session will highlight two key, geospatial, analytical tools, related to Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Covid-19 response, developed for the Latin American and Caribbean region. First, the City Disaster Vulnerability Index, aims to provide city policy- and decision-makers with high-quality information related to the spatial understanding of vulnerability applicable to Urban/DRM and territorial planning that could be extended to COVID-19 response activities as well. A combination of sub-city data has been developed for selected key cities in the region to support identifying potential hotspots for COVID-19 transmission as well as response and economic recovery options to support the most vulnerable people and business sectors. The second tool shows the current state of the pandemic at the subnational level within the Latin America and Caribbean region. It looks at five different metrics: 1. Active cases; 2. Seven-day cases per 100,000 people; 3. Seven-day cases per 100,000 people normalized by testing; 4. Cumulative cases; and 5. Deaths. This tool can be used to obtain unique insights into the evolution of the pandemic; determine the relative effectiveness of lockdown measures; identify hotspots of transmission and more. Join us to learn more and provide feedback on how this tool can be used to support governments worldwide.

Speakers:
Rashmin Gunasekera, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist, World Bank
James Daniell, Senior Natural Hazards Risk Engineer
Antonios Pomonis, Senior Structural Engineer

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Multiform flood risk in a complex future flooded world: Earth observation and complex systems for compound risk assessment

October 29, 2020 10:39 am Published by Leave a comment

  

Multiform flood risk in a complex future flooded world: Earth observation and complex systems for compound risk assessment

Organizer: The World Bank Group

Risk, and particularly flood risk, can be seen as the resultant of different forces acting on a complex system. Well-accepted and diffused frameworks describe the forces and elements of the system with hazard, exposure and vulnerability, components that are continuously under change over space and time, in many cases rapidly, and whose interactions determine the level of risk. For an efficient and adaptable risk management, all the elements of this complex system, together with their trajectories and changes, have to be considered for reliable damage estimations and risk analyses, allowing for an effective design of DRR measures and policies. Nonetheless, we live in a complex world where things often are even more complicated, with compound hazards acting on rapidly urbanizing areas, making the description of the forces and the domain where they act extremely difficult: floods can become multiform floods by combining with other types of hazards (e.g. heat-waves or pandemics) or different types of floods (e.g. riverine with coastal), land use can change from one month to the other (e.g. urban development), society can evolve rapidly (e.g. demography, education, etc.). How can we inform DRR measures and policies in such a complex world? What is our responsibility to uphold the integrity of the science that we wish to communicate, without paralyzing the decision making and policy maker? New sources of data, -Earth Observation, social media and mobility data- are becoming important to describe this complex system, and new tools, -machine learning and AI, complex systems analysis and socio-hydrology, are supporting their analysis. Nonetheless, where hazards hit, things can be far from ideal. This session allows for a platform to share evolving trends in data applications, critique new tools and debate best-practices related to understanding and mitigating multiform floods in rapidly changing environments, involving experts of data production, of tools development and of DRM in the field.

Speakers:
Giuliano Di Baldassarre, Professor
Irene Monasterolo, Assistant Professor
Astrid Caldas, Senior Climate Scientist
Margaret Glasscoe, Research Scientist
Moriah Royz, Product Manager
Andrew Kruczkiewicz, Faculty/Senior Researcher Columbia University. Science Adviser Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

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