UNISDR appoints Prof. Peter Head to Advisory Board of UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction “GAR 2018”

We are very pleased to report that Professor Peter Head, Founder and Chairman of Resilience Brokers, has been appointed as a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Assessment Report (GAR) of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

The GAR is firmly established as the flagship report of the UN on worldwide efforts to reduce disaster risk and address disaster risk management. It is published biennially by UNISDR and produced in collaboration and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including various UN agencies, governments, academic and research institutions, donors and technical organizations and specialists.

The publication takes stock of global progress in implementing the targets and priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and of current and future risk trends as represented in the forthcoming Global Risk Assessment Framework (GRAF). The GAR represents cutting edge innovative research and practice in disaster risk management and will now address the full range of natural and human-based risks.

Peter Head says:

“I am very honoured to be working with UNISDR to move forward the implementation of the Sendai Framework.

“All over the world we face increasing risks from climate change and the poor are particularly vulnerable. The Sendai Framework goes further to embrace all risks that may affect our lives. It is a privilege to be able to put my systems knowledge and experience at the service of the UN Member States as they lead this vitally important work.

I look forward to supporting communities all over the world to better understand and manage risks and to contribute, in any way I can, to build a better future for everyone, leaving no one behind.”

Critical to this appointment is Peter’s demonstrated knowledge and experience in building an understanding of how to enable effective risk-assessed decision making by linking global and local scales. Peter has dedicated the last seven years of his career to develop data-based collaborative modelling tools–which combine human and natural systems–to support day-to-day risk assessment and design of risk mitigation and adaptation, infrastructure and community preparedness.

Peter has been a visiting professor in Sustainable Systems Engineering at Bristol University since 2008. He is globally renowned for his accomplishments at the helm of the Ecological Sequestration Trust and is now leading the Resilience Brokers Programme–designing and prototyping risk-assessed decision making tools which can also be used to measure the impact and progress of new investments and governance structures.

The first meeting of the Advisory Board was on 20th March 2018 in Geneva.

ENDS-

Notes to editor

Media enquiries

Eva Novillo, Resilience Brokers Head of Communications eva.novillo@resiliencebrokers.org

About GAR Advisory Board

The GAR Advisory Board acts as an independent and strategic advisory body to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and UNISDR on the overall direction, political relevance and academic rigour of the GAR work streams. The Advisory Board members provide advice to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and GAR team on the concept and substantive content of each GAR as well as its dissemination to inform global processes on sustainable development and climate change adaptation. The Advisory Bard's members are appointed on the basis of their personal capacity rather than their institutional affiliation yet represent a broad spectrum of UNISDR partners, including representatives from science, governments, UN country representatives, civil society and private sector. Membership is usually for four years with a rotating system that allow for continuity over the report's biennial cycles. More on GAR...

About the Resilience Broker Programme

An ambitious global initiative designed to support the transition to resilient development paths in 200 city regions by 2023. Resilience Brokers champion a pioneering holistic approach to systems change that is driven by the power of collaboration and disruptive technology innovation. The Programme is designed to create change at the systems level and support the timely delivery of the Global Goals. More on Resilience Brokers Programme...

About the Ecological Sequestration Trust

A UK registered charity set up in 2011 by Prof. Peter Head to speed up and scale up transformative city region development towards Disaster Risk Reduction targets and the Global Goals. The Trust works globally with business, academia, governments and communities to inspire new thinking and foster innovative partnerships to cocreate practical solutions. The Trust has created Resilience Brokers with the Purpose of delivering the Resilience Brokers Programme. All tools and methods created by the Trust and Resilience Brokers are being developed as ‘open source’ resources. More on the Ecological Sequestration Trust...