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‘World Disasters Report 2016’: IFRC recalls hottest year of modern times

October 13, 2016
The IFRC publishes its annual World Disasters Report 2016 today – International Day for Disaster Reduction […]

‘Being “prepared for surprises” – climate change increases hurricane impact in unexpected ways’

October 11, 2016
(This interview with Climate Centre Director Maarten van Aalst by Deutsche Welle’s Martin Kuebler was first published […]

Paris climate deal: ‘What once seemed unthinkable is now unstoppable’

October 7, 2016
The UN announced Wednesday that the historic Paris agreement to address global climate change will […]

IFRC inaugurates its first reference centre in Asia Pacific

October 5, 2016
(A version of this story by the IFRC’s Ika Koeck was first published yesterday on […]

Oxford lawns, New York air conditioning, and a breath of fresh air

October 1, 2016
(Action to respond to disasters, prepare for them, and build resilience against shocks is finally […]

IFRC calls for disaster funds to be released early to transform humanitarian response to El Niño and climate-related crises

September 25, 2016
(This story is a press release issued earlier today by the IFRC.) At the close of […]

City of Oxford hosts first scientific conference on ‘1.5°C’ climate future

September 22, 2016
The first major international conference on the science behind the 1.5°C climate ambition agreed at […]

US scientists cancel official ‘La Niña watch’ as their forecast drops to 40% probability

September 20, 2016
US forecasters earlier this month cancelled the official ‘watch’ status for La Niña under the […]

First-ever use of a drone by Red Cross in Africa highlights humanitarian situation at Uganda border with South Sudan

September 18, 2016
(A version of this story was first published last Friday on the IFRC’s news site. […]

Red Cross convenes new climate adaptation workshop in Malawi

September 16, 2016
The Malawi Red Cross last week convened an all-day workshop in the capital, Lilongwe, to […]

Climate change increased chance of record rain in Louisiana last month by at least 40 per cent, new attribution study says

September 8, 2016
A joint study by scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and […]

Working together for a safer SW Indian Ocean rim: the new PIROI-Climate Centre partnership

September 7, 2016
The Red Cross Red Crescent Indian Ocean Regional Intervention Platform – known by its French […]

Elhadj As Sy: For a safer future, for community resilience, ‘we must act now’ in response to Paris climate agreement

September 5, 2016
The IFRC today welcomed the ratification by China and the US of the Paris climate […]

‘Forecasting for humanity: the future of disaster preparation’

September 1, 2016
(This story appeared first yesterday on the website of the BRACED programme.) Picture this scenario: […]

New doubts about La Niña-related rains flag importance of drought relief in Southern Africa

August 31, 2016
South Africa’s met office this week said recovery from the El Niño-related drought currently affecting […]

‘Hydromet services are a public good critical for resilience and growth’

August 29, 2016
The Red Cross Red Crescent this weekend called for greater investment in community resilience so […]

Small lending promotes resilience amid devastating El Niño drought legacy in Malawi

August 16, 2016
(This story was published first yesterday by the IFRC, whose emergency appeal for just over […]

Elhadj As Sy: Asia must invest more in disaster risk reduction

August 11, 2016
(This interview was published first yesterday on the website of the Thomson Reuters Foundation – the Climate […]

Across Asia, humanitarian challenges from monsoon rains and El Niño legacy

August 9, 2016
The IFRC yesterday issued an emergency grant of just under a quarter of a million […]

‘Time to engage’ at Red Cross Red Crescent Atlantis XII youth camp

August 5, 2016
The Climate Centre last week joined the 12th ‘Atlantis’ Red Cross Red Crescent Mediterranean youth […]

Southern African Development Community declares ‘regional disaster’ and launches $2.4 bn appeal for El Niño-related drought

August 4, 2016
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) last week declared a “regional disaster” and launched an […]

Forecasters: Models ‘back off’ a little on possible La Niña strength and timing. But don’t cancel the watch

July 28, 2016
The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) – the IFRC’s forecasting partners – […]

WMO will research whether reported 54°C in Kuwait heatwave sets official, all-time eastern hemisphere record

July 27, 2016
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) yesterday said it would examine whether a reading of 54.0°C […]

The week of heat

July 25, 2016
Extreme heat as well as destructive rainfall made headlines around the world last week, with […]

Opinion: ‘Leaders must act now to stop hunger in Southern Africa’

July 21, 2016
(This story appeared first yesterday on the website of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the Climate […]

The UK under climate change: government advisers assess future domestic risks

July 14, 2016
A report out earlier this week from the British government’s principal advisers on climate says […]

New chart style for (even) better cyclone preparedness in Vanuatu

July 12, 2016
The Vanuatu Meteorological Service (VMS) last week said its new, simpler map that plots cyclones […]

UN: Drought and flood impacts from El Niño/La Niña could touch 100 million people

July 8, 2016
The three major Rome-based UN agencies specializing in food or agriculture this week called for […]

Deepening drought-impacts behind ‘very dire’ food-security situation in Ethiopia’s Afar region

July 5, 2016
(This story appeared first yesterday on the IFRC news site. The Climate Centre’s community resilience […]

Forecast-based financing detailed for expert audience at Global Flood Partnership meeting

July 1, 2016
Recent operational experience from forecast-based financing humanitarian distributions in Africa and Asia was showcased by […]

IFRC reference centre world’s 7th most-efficient climate think tank in new global top-100 ranking

June 27, 2016
The International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG) on Thursday announced its 2015 ‘Climate Think Tank […]

IFRC reference centres focus on resilience at European Development Days 2016

June 24, 2016
(This story appeared first earlier today on the website of the Red Cross EU Office […]

Vector control key to beating yellow fever as number of vaccinated Angolans tops 8 million

June 23, 2016
The IFRC earlier this month called for “an immediate scale-up in response” to the spread […]

A month on from Roanu and after ‘unusually high tides’, IFRC warns of monsoon danger to Bangladesh

June 20, 2016
(This story is a press release that was issued by the IFRC earlier today from Geneva […]

‘Abnormal is the new normal’. May sets global climate records

June 15, 2016
(This web story, edited here for length, appeared first yesterday on the website of the […]

New WWA analysis: strong climate link to French deluge but data on Germany inconclusive

June 9, 2016
Human-caused climate change played an important role in the heavy rains that pounded parts of France late […]

The hidden toll of El Niño in Timor-Leste

June 6, 2016
(This blog by IFRC operations manager Jesper Fridolf, from the Swedish Red Cross, edited slightly […]

Now scientists probe possible climate link to Europe floods

June 3, 2016
Scientists are this weekend urgently analysing whether climate change made the latest flood disaster in […]

As Pacific returns to ‘ENSO neutral’ state, La Niña edges onto humanitarian radar

June 2, 2016
(This story was first published earlier today on the Asia Pacific area of www.ifrc.org.) For […]

UN: ‘Fundamental culture change’ by humanitarian donors required for action based on forecasts

May 31, 2016
A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) earlier this month looks at […]

Near-normal hurricane outlook most likely for season that’s ‘particularly difficult’ to predict, says NOAA

May 30, 2016
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Friday said the coming Atlantic hurricane season from […]

Brazil Red Cross volunteers brace for ‘more active’ wildfire season in Amazon

May 27, 2016
The IFRC’s science partners, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), earlier this […]

Social protection ‘key policy tool’ in battle against climate impacts

May 27, 2016
Social protection programmes can build people’s “anticipatory, adaptive and absorptive” capacity to resist climate shocks and disasters, […]

Disaster preparation means forecast-based financing, not band-aids

May 25, 2016
(This article, reproduced here under Creative Commons, appeared first yesterday on the website of the […]

WHS closes in Istanbul: ‘The test is what happens next’

May 24, 2016
(This story is an IFRC press release published first earlier today on ifrc.org.) The World […]

SG’s address to Istanbul summit roundtable on natural disasters and climate change

May 24, 2016
(This is the text of an address by IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy at […]

Over 55,000 community volunteers help move half a million people out of harm’s way before Cyclone Roanu strikes Bangladesh

May 23, 2016
(This story appeared earlier today on ifrc.org and has been slightly edited here for length.) […]

Preparation and innovation key to reducing risk, and ‘a few days’ can decide life or death, 2016 Understanding Risk Forum hears

May 23, 2016
The head of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Laura Frigenti, Friday told the closing […]

‘Extreme climate vulnerability’ among Movement concerns ahead of first-ever global humanitarian summit in Istanbul

May 20, 2016
The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has affirmed its key messages to the World Humanitarian […]

IFRC to scale up response to drought and strengthen resilience in Southern Africa

May 17, 2016
(This story is an IFRC press release issued today.) The IFRC today announced a major […]

What the world needs now: ‘preparedness and resilience’ (and forecast-based financing)

May 13, 2016
Two of the most influential figures in the sector yesterday called for a more “forward-looking […]

Climate science initiative will help South Asian and East African societies prepare for extreme weather

May 11, 2016
(This story is a press release issued today by the UK-based Climate and Development Knowledge […]

Resilience tops ‘high-value’ UN to-do list at

May 9, 2016
The major global ‘public-private’ conference announced at COP 21 last year to gather leaders from […]

UN ‘loss and damage’ committee discusses managing climate impacts

May 3, 2016
The third meeting took place at the UN campus in Bonn last week of the […]

Second humanitarian distribution in Uganda under forecast-based financing

May 3, 2016
The Katakwi district branch of the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) Friday carried out another […]

La Niña watch now in force

May 2, 2016
The US Climate Prediction Center and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) […]

CBA10: ‘Without involvement of the urban poor, no city will be resilient’

April 29, 2016
The tenth-anniversary Community-Based Adaptation Conference – ‘CBA10’ (proceedings) – ended yesterday on the Dhaka campus […]

‘Let’s enlist the Paris climate deal to build resilience’

April 25, 2016
(This opinion piece appeared first Saturday on the website of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Dr […]

IFRC hails Paris agreement signing in New York as ‘breakthrough for vulnerable populations threatened by climate change’

April 23, 2016
(This is a press release issued by the IFRC Friday shortly after the signing of […]

German-supported forecast-based action in Bangladesh will be all-cash

April 22, 2016
Planning for the operational roll-out of forecast-based financing (FbF) in Bangladesh is now at an […]

Paris agreement: 175 nations sign in New York, but

April 22, 2016
The text of the historic global agreement thrashed out at the COP 21 UN climate talks […]

Paris agreement: World eyes 55-55 ‘double threshold’ for climate deal to take effect

April 21, 2016
The text of the historic global agreement thrashed out at the COP 21 UN climate talks […]

Up to date satellite-based climate services plus equals resilience

April 19, 2016
(This article, edited slightly here for length, first appeared on the Understanding Risk website. Through the […]

Nearly 50m people in Southern Africa expected to be food-insecure before year end, says IFRC

April 18, 2016
(This is a press release issued by the IFRC in Nairobi on Saturday. Its full appeals […]

Conflict and climate push Cameroon’s Far North to food-security brink

April 13, 2016
(This story appeared first on Monday on the website of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The […]

Humanitarian sector grapples with El Niño’s global legacy

April 11, 2016
A cluster of agency reports from the field over the past week, including the IFRC, […]

Resilience building through indigenous knowledge and scientific information

April 8, 2016
A case study from PfR Philippines that shows that traditional knowledge and practices reinforced with scientific […]

Integrated risk management and the Philippine Red Cross

April 8, 2016
A case study from PfR Philippines. The Philippine RC has deepened its understanding on empowering […]

Building resilient communities by strengthening livelihoods and giving people more options

April 8, 2016
A case study from PfR Indonesia.  PfR’s interventions have focused on helping farmers improve their livelihood […]

World Bank will ‘bring early warning systems to 100m people’ as part of new action plan on climate

April 8, 2016
The World Bank Group yesterday unveiled a new action plan on climate designed to accelerate efforts […]

Coral bleaching on Great Barrier Reef ‘the worst in its history’, say Australian scientists

April 6, 2016
Aerial surveys between Cairns, in northern Queensland, and Papua New Guinea show the Great Barrier […]

Small and simple actions to address climate change

April 1, 2016
This publication sets out several simple strategies that can help to manage the unavoidable impacts of […]

Red Cross mangroves in Vietnam and Climate Training Kit among case studies for GDPC 2016 Annual Event

March 30, 2016
(This story is a press release, slightly edited here for length, from the The Nature […]

Ghana handwashing game used in schools in Central Region

March 24, 2016
The Ghana Education Service and Red Cross and the Climate Centre earlier this month joined […]

Humanity faces a ‘hotter, drier, wetter’ future, says World Meteorological Organization

March 23, 2016
The World Meteorological Organization – which today marks the anniversary of the 1950 convention establishing […]

Record February global temperature shocks scientists, impacts Pacific fisheries

March 22, 2016
February has set a record for being the most abnormally warm month since global records […]

El Niño complicates Cyclone Pam recovery

March 18, 2016
(This story first ran earlier this week on ifrc.org. The opening a year ago of […]

FbF distribution in Peru second of its kind by the Movement worldwide

March 16, 2016
A humanitarian distribution under Forecast-based Financing (FbF) has now been carried out in the rain-swept […]

PMI reviews El Niño/La Niña scenarios

March 14, 2016
The Indonesian Red Cross – often known internationally by its Indonesian-language acronym PMI for Palang […]

Climate change has ‘profound effects on disease vectors’, says UN risk-reduction chief

March 14, 2016
Government officials and risk-management experts on Friday called for health resilience to be placed at […]

Mongolian dzud disaster echoes 2011 SREX report on extremes, prompting new climate uncertainty

March 11, 2016
Many thousands of animals could starve over the next few weeks on Mongolia’s vast steppe […]

Climate and Zika: an expert Q&A

March 2, 2016
(This is an interview between the Wellcome Trust and Madeleine Thomson, Senior Research Scientist at IFRC […]

Red Cross readies forecast-based action as heavy rains blamed on El Niño lash Peru

March 1, 2016
The Peruvian Red Cross is assisting 2,000 families as part of its German-supported ‘Forecast-based Financing’ […]

Dangerous heatwaves could be yearly events without ‘stringent emissions reduction’, says new US research

February 29, 2016
Potentially dangerous heatwaves that normally strike once every two decades could become yearly events across […]

IFRC renews appeal to donors as ‘drought, erratic rains and floods’ halve yields for Southern Africa farmers

February 26, 2016
(This story is an IFRC press release issued yesterday in Pretoria and distributed by the […]

Winston may be Southern Hemisphere’s strongest-ever cyclone

February 24, 2016
With sustained winds of 230 kph and gusts of 325 kph – capable of blowing […]

El Niño past its peak but impacts will linger, say forecasters

February 22, 2016
The current Pacific El Niño phenomenon that has been linked to devastating extreme-weather impacts worldwide […]

Millions of African children at risk from hunger, water shortages and disease, says UNICEF

February 18, 2016
The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF says nearly a million children are in need of […]

Weather and climate dominate disaster trends, says 2015 CRED data

February 12, 2016
The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Robert Glasser, said yesterday […]

Risk reduction ‘only way’ to deal sustainably with growing weather and climate hazards, says UN chief

February 10, 2016
World leaders must unite to renew their commitments to humanity and end crisis and reduce […]

Protecting water supplies during floods: a BRACED case study from Myanmar

February 9, 2016
(This story, slightly edited here for length, appeared first on the BRACED website. In its […]

IFRC issues multimillion-dollar appeal for mosquito-borne Zika virus

February 3, 2016
The IFRC yesterday launched an appeal worth nearly US$ 2.4m in response to the outbreak […]

IFRC calls for urgent action on Zika as WHO declares global emergency

February 1, 2016
An emergency meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva today declared a “public […]

What does ‘resilience’ mean in practice? New global campaign has one answer

January 27, 2016
The ICRC, International Federation and Devex – a prominent media platform for the global development […]

Forecasters: drought in Southern Africa to continue for several months at least

January 25, 2016
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) – a leading global provider of early […]

Climate Change – an introduction for staff and volunteers

January 23, 2016
The course provides an introduction to climate change and aims to help staff and volunteers […]

IFRC releases climate e-learning course in four more languages

January 21, 2016
The IFRC’s Community Preparedness and Risk Reduction Department yesterday announced that the e-learning course Climate […]

At Davos, IFRC calls for longer view of humanitarian action amid unprecedented ‘broad landscape of risk’

January 21, 2016
Humanitarian need over the past decade has grown “at a staggering rate,” IFRC Secretary General […]

UN and Red Cross Red Crescent systems step up appeals for worsening drought and ‘El Niño shocks’ in Ethiopia

January 14, 2016
The IFRC last week launched an emergency appeal worth US$ 2.2m to enable the Ethiopian […]