What's New in Knowledge | October 2025

Last month there were several big-ticket items and global reports released. September has seen the release of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-30 report of the Secretary General (2025), which can be accessed here. September also saw the release of the World Risk Report 2025, which has a large focus on flooding.

Closer to home, Australia has released its first National Climate Risk Assessment. By assessing risk across 8 key systems and 11 regions, and prioritising key risks both within each system and across systems, it provides a sobering baseline understanding of who and what might be at risk from a changing climate across the country. In the lead up to its release in mid-September, there was considerable commentary about the delay in its release, causing speculation on how bad Australia’s climate risk outlook would be.

Australia’s first National Adaptation Plan was also released to guide Australia’s response to the National Assessment, as well as the 2035 Emissions Reductions Target Report and Australia’s Net Zero Plan.  

Whilst there was some backlash upon the release of the National Assessment to the public, many organisations and departments across the country are throwing their support behind it. Many are calling it the wake-up call and starting point that Australia needs. Understanding these risks, their impacts, conditions and characteristics are critical to informing effective climate change adaptation (see for example here, here and here). 

In understanding consequences and recovery, this article that looks at how insurers are turning risk exposure into resilience advantage. In focusing on the consequences of disaster, this study looked at Australia’s black summer bushfires and how these megafires left scars far beyond property damage. 

In thinking about systemic risk, this research paper looks into the NaTech database and how it gathers data for its risk assessment on disaster trends. Here are 2 interesting reports that look at wildfire risk indices and the built environment, with an inventory of current models and a review of gaps and opportunities.

In disaster risk reduction, Japan has been the focus of several papers this month. This paper shares experience and lessons learned from Japan in relation to seismic resilience and this article focuses attention on the city of Kagoshima in Japan as a face for a resilient city.

Also happening this month in disaster risk reduction, here is an article that shares nature-based solutions for beach stabilisation and how this can create opportunities for the tourism industry. This article shares the benefits of early warning systems and their coverage and determinants of reception. Here is a commentary piece on how to build nature back better, with some interesting takes on how businesses can do more for nature.

On a positive note, here is a briefing developed by the International Institute for Environment and Development that shares lessons for designing locally led adaptation programmes that are essential for effective and equitable climate action.

Focusing on First Nations knowledge, Kamal Kishore has written an article on how to work with Indigenous peoples to reduce risk. This article explores what native-held lands in the US can teach us about the future of wildfire.

For children and young people, here is the new Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas that provides a way to track and monitor the health and wellbeing of children and youth across Australia through different data sets/metrics to ensure priority areas for wellbeing are being targeted. In Japan, heat in classrooms is being linked to widening the achievement gap, as children are struggling to cope with working in hot classrooms.

On a brighter note, this article looks at the benefits of integrating child-friendly green spaces into post-disaster recovery and how this could have psychological, physical, and educational sustainability impacts on children’s wellbeing.

Recognising inequity, here is an article on how the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is addressing climate and disaster displacement across the Asia Pacific region. This month the IFRC has also released proposals on strengthening the draft articles on the protection of persons worldwide in the event of disasters.

An interesting report has also been released that highlights that when heat rises, progress on women’s empowerment across the globe also cools. In other words, hotter than usual years can often slow or derail advances in women’s legal rights, typically this is due to budget restraints due to extreme weather events.

Looking at weather and climate change, here are some key facts about the long-term impacts of extreme weather events and disasters.

There has been quite a focus on many different hazards this month. This study introduced a methodology for accessing multi-hazard scenarios for extreme compound events. This article explores the extreme hazard posed by fire in Spain and Portugal due to climate change. Additionally, this interesting article links volcanic eruptions in one hemisphere to floods in the opposite hemisphere.

Focusing on extreme heat, in Australia, the National Assessment revealed that climate is affecting housing prices with losses forecast upwards of 611 billion dollars by 2050, mainly caused by the decrease in property values after disasters. This article explores what that means for insurance and adaptation. This research paper looks at mapping heat-related mortality across 2288 local communities across Australia to inform the implementation of targeted interventions.

In this article produced by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 4 innovative ways to map urban heat are outlined, which can help track heat stress on a street-by-street basis.

In health, large numbers of farmers are experiencing anxiety and depression in the face of floods and droughts in the UK. These reports have come in the wake of the UK’s hottest and driest spring on record and 4 heatwaves so far in 2025. This has led to the country’s third worst harvests on record.

Looking at physical health, a multi-country study found that cyclones, also known as hurricanes and typhoons, produce a significant uptick in hospitalisations due to cardiovascular disease for months after they subside. A University of Colorado study has examined how wildfire smoke changes the air we breathe and affects our lungs.

In governance, leadership and capacity building, the European Union has created a step-by-step guide for countries on how to develop risk and vulnerability assessments which are fundamental in planning successful climate adaptation actions. This article looks at the disaster committee composition and policy pathways that occurred after Hurricane Sandy. The Climate Centre released a blog post that looks deeply into social development in a changing climate and how to navigate maintaining and improving social development through governance, policies, and social protection. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has released practical recommendations for governments to enhance disaster risk reduction within national biodiversity strategies and action plans.

Looking at knowledge development and translation, this article examines disaster records of the global emergency events database between 2000 and 2018 to identify multi-hazard events and what we can learn from them. of research into education and behaviour change highlights how public information is not enough to build human resilience, readiness and preparedness. It emphasises the importance of engagement and education to drive real behaviour change.

Examining the frontiers in technology, researchers from the University of Notre Dame in the US are using sensors on garbage trucks to identify, and ultimately mitigate, the urban heat island effect. The RAND Corporation have released an interesting commentary piece on how AI is changing our approach to disasters. This article shares how remote sensing data and machine learning can be used for seasonal heatwave forecasting.

A new AI flood model is giving water managers a new decision-making tool. A new experimental tsunami detection system developed by NASA has been catching waves in real time and was instrumental in tracking the tsunami that developed off the coast of Russia in July this year. This research article investigates experts’ perceptions, hopes, and concerns regarding the possibilities of AI in the context of weather warnings and weather warning systems.

Did you know, the Bureau of Meteorology have released an article on fire weather and what you need to know.

WNIK TV

The Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal hosted a webinar on Disaster Resilient: Future Ready Victoria which can be viewed here.

Sources: Prevention Web, Nature, The Conversation, UNDRR, International Journal on Disaster Risk Reduction, LinkedIn, Sandy Whight, Isabel Cornes, Darryl Glover.