Disasters research is ever more salient today. Weather related incidents fueled by climate change have filled the news for years while the Covid-19 pandemic has overshadowed everything else during the past year and a half. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report highlights the need for immediate global attention and that radical societal transformation is required in the coming years to limit dangerous climate change. Global disasters, both present and future, have become part of common understanding and the public debate.

The overall theme for the conference were Global Disasters with a focus on Health and Climate Change and disaster risk reduction and its intersections with development.