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12/11/2024 |
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Flash News from the
Disaster Risk Management
Knowledge Centre
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The past three months have seen an alarming succession of disasters, driven by both climate-related events and armed conflicts. We likely passed the symbolic threshold of 1.5 degrees warming this year. Recent elections point to a more difficult international climate for global governance. These are stark reminders that enhancing resilience and preparedness has never been more essential. Knowledge management, fuelled by data, science, and evidence, is a cornerstone in achieving this goal. As highlighted by the recent Niinistö Report, shifting from reactive crisis response to proactive resilience is imperative, and the European Commission’s new direction strongly supports this priority.
The Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre is uniquely positioned to support this shift by bridging science, policy, and operational practice. Through sharing knowledge across disciplines, sectors and government levels, the DRMKC facilitates mutual learning and coordination. Through rigorous data analysis, such as in the recently published Atlas of the Human Planet and the INFORM Risk 2025 datasets, the DRMKC equips policymakers with reliable evidence to anticipate risks and act proactively.
In this newsletter we selected some recent scientific advances with particular relevance for policy, some from the Joint Research Centre and some from the many scientific contributors to the Knowledge Centre. Together, let’s continue building a resilient Europe, where data, science, and coordinated action are our strongest defences against future crises.
To learn more please visit the DRMKC webiste
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Flagship Reports
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Atlas of the Human Planet: 50 years of population growth and urbanisation trends uncovered
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On 30 October the JRC published the new Atlas of the Human Planet, which presents 50 years of global population growth and urbanisation trends, revealing how cities and rural areas have evolved. This report builds on the Global Human Settlement Layers data which is vital for addressing future climate, social, and economic challenges.
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Report on the large wildfires of 2022 in Europe
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In 2022, Europe faced catastrophic wildfires with high social, environmental, and economic impacts. This report from the FirEUrisk Project and EU Commission reveals critical insights on fire behaviour, policy gaps, and lessons from Ukraine’s unique challenges during wartime. Explore the findings.
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Global drought threatens food supplies and energy production
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Record temperatures and low rainfall have had impacts on food security, livelihoods, and energy production in many world regions. The Global Drought Overview – September 2024 published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), shows the gravity of these temperature and rainfall anomalies.
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Datasets
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Stats in the City: Exploring the 2025 Urban Centre Database
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The Global Human Settlements Layer of the JRC released the new 2025 Urban Centre Database — "Stats in the City" at the World Urban Forum in Cairo. The dataset offers detailed insights into global urbanization trends from 1975 to 2030. It covers 15 thematic areas like climate, public health, infrastructure, land use, natural hazards, and emissions.
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INFORM Risk 2025: new dataset available
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The new INFORM Risk dataset is now available for download and embedded in the INFORM. Most indicators were updated, with a few others that were revised. A report analysing the new results will be published next year.
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A pilot program for cyclone formation monitoring is now available in GDACS
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The European Crisis Management Laboratory (ECML) launched a pilot in the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) to automatically detect and visualise early cyclone formation. This service aims to help humanitarian agencies with timely data for anticipatory action. Access the pilot page below, and know more about the methodology here.
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Floods in Europe: there's a new tool to estimate water depth and extent
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JRC scientists have developed a tool to estimate flood water depth and improve the accuracy of flood extent maps by combining satellite images with topographic data. The FLEXTH tool is available as open-source Python code and offers computational efficiency for processing large areas.
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New Risk Data Hub Atlas
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The Risk Data Hub has a new portal for visualising and analysing disaster risk data across Europe. It integrates various datasets, including exposure, vulnerability, hazards and risks, enabling users to assess potential risks in different administrative levels.
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Events
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Upcoming: DRMKC / CONRIS Disaster Management online training
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Coventry University's Disaster and Emergency Management course is hosting online seminars on DRM co-organized with DRMKC. Upcoming sessions "Multi-Risk Challenges" (Nov 14), "Coastal Risks" (Nov 21), and "Psychosocial First Aid" (Nov 28). Open to CONRIS universities, professionals, and civil protection officers: register to join. Check out also the presentations from the recent webinars
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Results: key innovations shared at the Copernicus Annual Conference 2024
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The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) 2024 Conference highlighted key advances in disaster management, from enhanced wildfire and flood response tools to innovative drought monitoring and AI integration. These updates aim to improve the readiness and resilience to disasters in Europe and worldwide.
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Results: Are Earth’s Tipping Points a blind spot in the EU's risk preparedness?
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In response to a warmer climate and Europe's security gap on Earth System Tipping Points, experts on the topic met to call for stronger EU adaptive governance, improved early warnings, risk assessment, and resilience strategies.
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Results: Disaster Research Days 2024 in Vienna
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The Disaster Research Days 2024 in Vienna united 200+ experts to discuss the future of science and research for disaster risk reduction. Societal resilience, infrastructure protection, and public health impacts were among the topics discussed.
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Results: Third edition of the Evidence for Policy in DRM Summer School
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The 2024 Evidence for Policy in DRM Summer School at the University of Vienna gathered 80+ experts to bridge science and policy in disaster resilience. With hands-on masterclasses and networking sessions, the participants explored among others AI, systemic risk, and resilience, enhancing their disaster management skills.
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Results: Third forum for the mission on adaptation to climate change
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This report provides a summary of the Third Forum for the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, which took place on 23rd May 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. This Mission supports European regions, cities and local authorities in their efforts to build resilience against the impacts of climate change.
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Additional Resources
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Words into Action guidelines: The Science–Policy–Society ecosystem for disaster risk reduction
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| The UNDRR Words into Action (WiA) guide fosters collaboration among government, science, and civil society. It offers strategies for using science in policymaking, aligning roles to build trust and resilience, with global examples for risk-informed, “all-of-society” resilience. |
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Developing a multi-level European-wide composite indicator to assess vulnerability dynamics across time and space
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| With extreme climate events rising, European communities face increasing risks. This paper presents an EU-wide vulnerability index evaluating socio-economic, political, and environmental factors. By offering harmonised data, the index can guide policies for resilience at national and local levels. |
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World Cities Report 2024: Cities and Climate Action
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| The "World Cities Report 2024: Cities and Climate Action" is UN-Habitat's flagship publication, released in November 2024 at the World Urban Forum in Cairo. It examines the challenges cities face due to climate change and rapid urbanisation, highlighting the need for effective climate action in urban areas. Chapter 3, with contributions from the JRC, focuses on the exposure to climate-related hazards. |
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Advances on the Global Human Settlement Layer by joint assessment of Earth Observation and population survey data
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| The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) enhances public insight into human presence globally. The 2023 edition introduces refined 10m-resolution data, building height/volume estimates, and improved population density grids. GHSL's high accuracy supports international decisions, marking a leap in transparent AI for global settlement data. |
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EU cities and heat extremes
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| This policy brief focuses on how to tackle severe heat in cities and provides recommendations, best practices and analytical tools that can be used by local authorities. |
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Temperature-related mortality burden to worsen in Europe
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| Excessively high or low temperatures presently cause 407,000 fatalities a year. Heat-related deaths, now six times more frequent in southern than in northern Europe, will occur 9.3 times more frequently in the south than in the north by 2100. |
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Evaluation of a combined drought indicator against crop yield estimations and simulations over the Argentine Humid Pampas
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| Droughts severely impact Argentina’s Humid Pampas agriculture. This study assesses the Combined Drought Indicator (CDI), linking rainfall, soil moisture, and vegetation health to track drought severity. |
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Technical note: Surface fields for global environmental modelling
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| The CEMS_SurfaceFields_2022 dataset is a new set of high-resolution surface fields at 1 and 3 arcmin resolution based on a wide variety of high-resolution and up-to-date data sources. The dataset encompasses catchment morphology and river networks, land use, vegetation cover type and properties, soil properties, lake information, and water demand. This paper details the complete workflow used to generate the CEMS_SurfaceFields_2022 fields, including the data sources and methodology. |
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