The United Nations scientific body has launched a new drive to develop earthquake early warning systems, marking a key contribution to implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg and The Netherlands have agreed to give more than US$80 million to equip up to 80 countries with better climate risk early warning systems.

The Americas are paying a high price as one of the worst El Niños on record continues to strengthen. The World Meteorological Organization this week singled out “considerable concern” about the impact of El Niño on the Amazon basin in the context of long-term climate change.

Officials from Central Asia and the South Caucasus have come together to craft a roadmap to make the region’s cities more resilient by implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today praised the Philippines for its successful efforts to reduce mortality and the numbers of people affected by the latest typhoon to sweep across the country despite tidal surges, heavy rains, floods and landslides.

The 18,000-strong community of Tuti, a River Nile island in the heart of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, has long been highly vulnerable to floods.

The UK community of East Salford has over 1,400 homes and 500 businesses in Lower Broughton and Lower Kersal – all of which are at risk of flooding from the River Irwell. Salford has a long history of flooding , notably in 1946, 1954 and 1980.

A French start-up that uses image sensors to monitor water levels in order to head off the threat of flood has today won a pan-European award that recognizes innovative approaches to reducing disaster risk.