ICLR to host international disaster research program

Lloyd’s has dedicated Cdn$100,000 a year, for the next ten years to help sponsor the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR)’s latest endeavour hosting and managing an international Integrated Research on Disaster Risk program. The announcement was made at a Toronto event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Lloyd’s conducting business in Canada. Paul Kovacs, ICLR’s executive director, was on-hand for a speech.The International Council for Science in Paris chose the ICLR to host and manage the council’s Integrated Research on Disaster Risk program, Kovacs explained.The research program, to be housed at the ICLR’s London, Ont. office, has three scientific objectives, “The characterization of hazards, vulnerability and risk; effective decision making in complex and changing risk contexts; and reducing risks and curbing losses through knowledge-based actions,” he said.Gordon McBean, the chair of the International Council for Science committee and ICLR’s director of policy, has been crafting the research strategy, Kovacs added.”In some respects we have a bold vision to follow the lead of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” Kovacs said. “The international work on climate change includes a political process led by the United Nations and a research process led by the panel. The international work on disasters also has a political process led by the United Nations and we seek to build our program to provide a parallel research effort.”