2020 Asia Pacific Science and Technology Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

Prof Emily Chan, Mr C S Wong and Mr Zhe Huang of the CCOUC team participated in the 2020 Asia Pacific Science and Technology Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction: “Science and Technology for Building Resilience of Communities and Infrastructure” on 15 October 2020 via Zoom. The virtual international conference attended by more than 120 participants was co-organised by United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Government of Malaysia, Asia Pacific Science Technology and Academia Advisory Group (APSTAAG) of UNDRR, International Science Council / Asia-Pacific, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), Asian Network on Climate Science and Technology (ANCST), National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) of Malaysia, Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative (SEADPRI-UKM).

Prof Chan delivered a presentation entitled “COVID-19, Disaster Risk Reduction and Science & Technology Agenda” to understand COVID-19 as a biological hazard under the Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Reduction (Health-EDRM) framework and how biological hazards can be integrated into disaster risk reduction planning.

Successful applications of science and technology in preventing and mitigating risks from different types of hazards in the region were showcased in the conference. Two key reports “Science and Technology Status for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia-Pacific 2020” and “Asia-Pacific Regional Framework for NATECH (Natural Hazards Triggering Technological Disasters) Risk Management” were released in the conference and Prof Chan is a key contributor of the latter. “Kuala Lumpur Consensus on S&T for Disaster Risk Reduction” was also endorsed by conference participants.