As I wish everyone a Happy New Year I am mindful that COVID has meant it has been a tough couple of years for most. We hope that 2022 will see progress and the ability to bring researchers and end-users together as much as possible in COVID-safe ways.
We have big plans for the year at Natural Hazards Research Australia. We have already started our investments in industry-focused research to increase resilience to the impacts of the inevitable natural hazards we will continue to face. Our postgraduate program is already receiving applications for scholarships, the first round of fellowships in our Early Career Researcher program will begin in February, and our quick response funding is available.
Our initial focus for the year is completing the Research priorities for disaster risk reduction and community resilience to the impacts of natural hazards, based on the extensive feedback late last year. Flowing from these will be the Centre’s official medium- and long-term research priorities.
Our round one projects, announced last November, are now underway and are currently in various stages of implementation. These projects both extend research and support the utilisation of findings from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC’s Black Summer research program, funded through the Australian Government in 2020, as well as (for the projects that are not extensions) address more urgent research needs and issues raised by recommendations from the 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, the 2020 NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry and by stakeholders during the Centre’s research priority scoping workshops in August 2021.
Part of this initial funding round was a project examining the resilience of lifelines for regional and remote communities, which saw our first call for expressions of interest for research providers released, generating quite some interest. A second EOI for a project on a bushfire information database will be announced shortly. Second and third rounds of research investment will follow in the first half of 2022, based directly on the final national research priorities, as well as expressed partner needs.
Our new website is currently in the later stages of development and is scheduled to go live in February, while we are continuing to develop a calendar of activities, including our first annual natural hazards conference. As the last month has shown with Omicron, Australia is not out of the COVID woods just yet, and we’ll continue to adapt our planning and deliver these events in a COVID-safe way. We’re also partnering with key, established events in the sector, such as the International Association of Wildland Fire’s Fire & Climate conference (Melbourne, 6-10 June) and the Disaster & Emergency Management Conference (Gold Coast, 25-26 July), and many more.
As we hire new staff we have been increasing our presence outside of our traditional base in Victoria. I would encourage you to read this short article which explains the role of our new Node Research Managers, Nicola Moore (Queensland), Dr Kat Haynes (NSW) and Dr Blythe McLennan (Victoria). Events so far over summer have once again highlighted that Australia and its neighbours are exposed to many different hazards. We have seen large scale flooding in Queensland and New South Wales, Cyclone Tiffany making landfall in both Cape York and Arnhem Land, dangerous fires in southern Western Australia, and in the last week, the large volcanic eruption in Tonga and subsequent tsunami that affected many countries around the Pacific leading to a substantial involvement from Australia. These events show that despite the reduced fire activity in some parts, there is no such thing as a quiet season for Australia and our region, so we can never be complacent.
There were other surprises which may indicate what the future may hold for all of us. In December, a time when Colorado in the US is known for its ski resorts, the state recorded one of the largest losses of houses in a bushfire in its history, right in the middle of winter.
Looking at recent reports on where we, globally, are headed, it is notable that in the World Economic Forum’s global risk report 2022, released on 11 January, extreme weather ranks at number two in their Global Risks Perception Survey 2021-2022 of the most severe risks globally in the next 10 years.
Also released in January was the Minderoo and Deloitte Access Economics report, Economic Reality Check - Adapting Australia for climate-resilient growth, which examined the impacts of fire and flood on Australia in the coming decades. The report suggests that the costs of disasters to Australia could ‘rise to $1 trillion by 2050 if we continue with business as usual’, referring to the need to shift our thinking and action to climate adaptation and mitigation from response and recovery.
These reports reiterate why Natural Hazards Research Australia exists – to help reduce the impacts of natural hazards, reduce the number of lives lost and injuries caused, reduce the economic losses, and save Australia from massive costs in the future. That is our mandate, and 2022 will see the Centre scale up those efforts.