What's New in Knowledge | November 2026

Understanding our changing climate, and turning that knowledge into better decisions, is the focus of 2 significant new releases from Australia and New Zealand.

The Australian Climate Service (ACS) has released their 3-year strategy. The Australian Climate Service Strategy 2026–2029 outlines the organisation’s role, priorities, and delivery focus for 2026–2029. The ACS will focus on creating and tailoring climate risk information to show where climate impacts are most likely to occur and who is most affected, helping to better target action that reduces impacts and strengthens wellbeing. The strategy is informed by an assessment of national decision maker needs.

The New Zealand Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) and Stats NZ have released a new report titled ‘Our Atmosphere and Climate 2026’. The fourth in a series of reports over time, it brings together the latest data and evidence to explain how New Zealand’s climate is changing, what those changes mean for the country’s environment and lives, and the pressures contributing to them. The report highlights the need for better knowledge, data and evidence to understand New Zealand’s future climate risks, particularly in the areas of knowledge of future impacts, understanding complex interactions across natural and social systems, and improving the quality and accessibility of decision-ready information.

In understanding consequences and recovery, this paper in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management presents the development and pilot testing of a self-assessment tool designed for Community Recovery Committees (CRCs) in disaster-affected communities across Australia. The tool was piloted with 4 CRCs representing diverse locations and disaster exposures (fire and flood). Meanwhile, an evaluation of the Australian Red Cross Bushfire Recovery Program following the 2019-20 bushfires highlights key considerations for emergency management organisations, funders and researchers including: ‘exit planning, consideration of existing gaps in social services and psychosocial support in communities, and supporting communities when additional crises occur in addition to the disaster that the program was designed to support’.

Natural Hazards Research Australia (NHRA) has published a report titled ‘Community experiences of the October 2022 floods in northern and northwestern Tasmania: Preparedness and Warnings’. It is an examination of the how residents of northern and northwestern Tasmania experienced a major flood in the region in October 2022, with key findings on communications, community perceptions, and community preparedness.

Focusing on systemic risk, this article from The Conversation, dives into 3 key lessons about what works best for meeting people’s immediate housing needs and supporting longer-term housing recovery following bushfire. Also in the context of wildfire, this article evaluated the state of knowledge regarding wildfire-related hazards to water systems. It proposes a framework to assess interactions and feedback loops between water quality, quantity, and infrastructure hazards as determinants of post-fire water availability and access.

Meanwhile, the Climate Resilience Alliance released an evidence paper that explores the escalating risks of compound heatwave and flood events: ‘These hazards, occurring in close succession or simultaneously, amplify impacts on human health, infrastructure, ecosystems, and livelihoods, often surpassing the damage caused by each event individually. Using current scientific research and case studies, the paper examines the mechanisms driving these events, their increasing frequency, and the implications for climate resilience practitioners’.

In disaster risk reduction, this paper provides an initial analysis of the social and institutional factors that influence the durability and functionality of Community Flood Groups (CFGs) in England and Wales. The results highlight that clear communication and collaboration are critical to the success of CFGs, but managing complex relationships and changing group membership can create challenges for continuity and long-term sustainability.

Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, has reflected on the 2026 theme of the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR): resilience starts at home. He argues that ‘[the] agency of the people – not only after a disaster but also before one – is the most under-recognised, undervalued and under-supported aspect of our work on disaster risk reduction’. Read the article here.

Meanwhile, this commentary adopts a different perspective on the IDDRR theme, arguing that household and local preparedness ‘cannot compensate for development, infrastructure, and investment decisions that systematically create and redistribute disaster risk’.

In looking at First Nations knowledge, and keeping with the theme of IDDRR, a United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) update shares 6 time-tested ways traditional knowledge has made homes around the world more resilient. The examples show how ‘traditional and indigenous knowledge continues to protect people and their homes from disaster risk around the world, sometimes unchanged, sometimes adapted alongside newer materials and methods’.

Turning to children and young people, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery have released a report titled ‘Recommendations for preparedness education in early childhood and primary schooling in the European Union’. The report finds that preparedness education is unevenly integrated across early childhood and primary schooling, and that policy ambition often exceeds schools’ capacity to deliver it consistently. Evidence from 20 country case studies, EU-wide surveys and 4 global comparators identifies gaps in curriculum coverage, teacher preparation, and quality assurance. 

In looking at animals in disasters, the UNDRR has created a new topic guide on domestic animals in disaster risk reduction. It shares a variety of studies and articles exploring different initiatives that ensure both pets and their owners are protected when disasters strike.

In looking at research on equity and inequity, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women have released a report on the data for advancing gender-responsive ocean sustainability. Access the report here. Meanwhile, this article in The Conversation describes research with 3 flood action groups in the United Kingdom, highlighting how communities continue to question the idea of resilience, raising concerns that ‘resilience is less about helping communities and more about transferring responsibility from institutions to citizens’.

Australia’s National Indigenous Disaster Resilience (NIDR) program has released a score card on disaster resilience for closing the gap in emergency management. In 2025, NIDR's first Disaster Preparedness Scorecard established a baseline for how well Australian governments were progressing their commitment to closing the gap in the emergency management sector. One year on, the Disaster Preparedness Scorecard 2026 reflects the steps governments are taking in the right direction, as well as in the wrong direction.

Focusing on extreme heat, The World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Population Fund, have produced a publication that presents a set of priority indicators identified by these organizations to support monitoring of the impact of heat exposure on maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH). The indicators are organized across four domains: routine MNCH monitoring, public health and surveillance systems, climate and health monitoring, and measures of heat exposure.

In looking at governance, leadership, and capacity building, The World Bank released a new framework this month for climate and health competency. The framework defines the essential competencies needed for climate–health action across ministries, sectors, and functions of government. Its purpose is to provide a shared language, help identify capacity needs, inform the design and prioritisation of capacity building efforts, and clarify what practitioners need to make decisions across sectors.  

This conference paper synthesises findings from an exploratory comparative assessment of how adaptation governance in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the United States is beginning to engage with systemic climate risks. The results highlight practical entry points for strengthening systemic adaptation.

In looking at new developments in technology this month, research on house loss patterns in the Australian 2019–20 fire disaster confirms the reliability of official risk mapping. It finds that the 100 m distance from flammable vegetation gives an accurate prediction for building survival, and houses more than 200 m from flammable vegetation have minimal risk.

Back in time, on 5 October 1864, a deadly tropical cyclone struck the city of Calcutta (Now Kolkata) taking the lives of approximately 60,000 people. This newspaper article from The Tribune goes into more detail about the event and how this event has shaped India’s modern day emergency management systems, including weather management systems and early storm warning systems for the city and across the country.