IRDR - Addressing the challenges of natural & human-induced environmental hazards

2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Cancun, Mexico. IRDR organized its Science Committee (SC) meeting before the platform in the beautiful city Cancun. Beside Global Platform, our SC member Dr Bapon Fakhruddin visited Cozumel and was rewarded with a Mayoral award of appreciation for his efforts. The stunning Caribbean island of Cozumel lies east of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatán Channel. Its coral reef and beaches are considered internationally to be of exceptional ecological importance and there has been a concerted effort on the part of local Government to conserve and develop its coastal assets.

More than 70 participants attended the public seminar given by Bapon. Bapon explained that the island is threatened by climate change, due to its geographical location and due to the existence of natural phenomena that affect the island every year, so he commented there are different ways to improve this situation using advance science and technology and probabilistic risk assessment. The risk assessment would assist the island to become climate resilience and develop their strategic plan for future.
Based on studies carried out in his native country, Bapon Fakhruddin reported that the system applied in New Zealand could applied to the island of Cozumel, in relation to the importance of caring for the environment that surrounds it with the purpose of protect the community and the species that inhabit it.
The Mayor of Cozumel (H.E. Perla Cecilia Tun PEch) expressed her thanks for Tonkin + Taylor’s support, presenting Bapon with an award of appreciation. She also enlisted Bapon to help with establishing the island’s. Finally, Bapon appreciated the authorities for the invitation and he affirmed that New Zealand and Mexico could unite their forces in order to work together for the protection of the island, whose ecosystem is one of the largest in the world. Beside this, Bapon speak on Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as a panellist. He also speak in the disaster risk and loss data working session in the Global Platform.

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