Lead author of an IPCC Special Report

Dr. Farrokh Nadim has been selected as a Lead Author of a chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on "Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation" (SREX).

Dr. Nadim is Director of the International Centre for Geohazards (ICG) at NGI. ICG carries out research on the assessment, prevention and mitigation of geohazards, including risk of landslide in soil and rock due to rainfall, flooding, earthquakes and human intervention, and the geological risks in deep waters, especially underwater slides. Climate change may be a cause of geohazards and ICG therefore has been engaged in several projects on this topic.

Participation as a Lead Author of an IPCC Special Report is an acknowledgement from the scientific community and also a commitment of time and effort. Preparations for the first Lead Authors Meeting will be held at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama City, Panama) from 9-12 November 2009. Convening Lead Authors and Lead Authors are expected to attend, with Review Editors engaged later in the process (mid-September 2010).

The IPCC was established in 1988, under the joint sponsorship of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to assess the major scientific and technical issues confronting governments and other parties interested in climate change. Through its reports, methodologies, workshops, and expert meetings, the IPCC has become a primary source of independent scientific information for governments and other organizations. This Special Report follows established IPCC Rules and Procedures, with the added benefit of UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) involvement.