Advocating for Geoscience at Global Risk Reduction Forums

In June, GfGD joined global discussions in Geneva on disaster risk reduction and early warning systems. We co-authored a joint statement with fellow geoscience organisations, urging stronger support for geoscience institutions—especially in low-income countries—and contributed to the first Early Warnings for All forum. Explore our initial reflections and Will Veness’ new article on the importance of locally grounded early warning systems.

In June, the global disaster risk reduction community convened in Switzerland, to assess progress, identify challenges, and propose strategies to accelerate implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

In the run up to this forum, we collaborated with other geoscience bodies to prepare a joint statement, submitted to inform the proceedings. This statement articulated the need for sustained support for scientific institutions and operational services involved in geoscience data collection, management, integration, and analysis (e.g., volcano observatories, seismic networks, geological surveys), particularly in low-income and least-developed countries. Read some initial reflections from our engagement in this meeting here.

In Geneva, we also joined the first multi-stakeholder forum for the Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL) initiative. As the world races to meet the 2027 target of multi-hazard early warnings for every individual, our research coordinator William Veness reflects on how these satellite-driven alert systems can stay accurate, trusted, and truly useful for the individuals most at risk. Read Will’s article “The importance of building early warning systems from the ground up” published in GeoLog, EGU’s official blog, here.