Natural and human-induced hazards is one of the strategic priority areas
for ICSU work over the next six years. A Planning Committee has been appointed
to develop the details of a new international interdisciplinary programme
in this area
The ICSU draft Strategic Plan 2006 – 2012 identifies natural
and human-induced hazards as one of the major research-led issues for
ICSU over the planning period. This grows out of long ICSU engagement
in hazards initiatives, including the International Decade for Natural
Disaster Reduction. The PAA on Environment
and its relation to sustainable development (December 2003) saw
hazards as a priority area for ICSU, and this was reiterated in the
CSPR
report on Foresight analysis (July 2004).
At its meeting in April 2005, the Executive Board gave the go-ahead
for a scoping study on hazards, which was reported
to the General Assembly in October 2005. A Planning Committee is being
established to develop the details of the new programme and propose
how it might be implemented.
The hazards programme runs much wider than tsunamis, but the 26 December
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has clearly attracted worldwide attention
and pushed the issue up the agenda. On 13 January 2005, ahead of the
Kobe World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction, the Executive Board
issued a statement
on the tsunami identifying both urgent and long-term needs and stressing
the importance of bringing good science to bear effectively on policy-making
(see ICSU Insight
January 2005).
The planning and consultation process for this programme has been extended,
in recognition of the need for the widest interaction and debate among
potential partners and sponsors. It includes more consultation within
and beyond the ICSU family and a one-day Consultation Forum, which was
held on 29 October 2007. The Planning Group will submit its final report
to the Committee for Science Planning and Review in April 2008.
ICSU Planning Group on Natural and Human-Induced Environmental Hazards
and Disasters
