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The practice of raw material extraction has a high impact on the environment and represents a potential threat to the health and thriving of local communities. The concept of Extractive Essential Variables (EEVs) are explored in order to propose vari- ables that can be used to quantify the environmental footprint of mineral extraction. Considering the interdependence of mining activities with social, economic and envir- onmental issues, the variables target the development of monitoring tools for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The identification of EEVs is based on the use of Earth Observation products in the field of mineral resources exploitation. A list of variables is proposed based on three classes of Essential Variables (EVs): installation and exploration phase, mineral extraction, and ore processing. These variables take into account the impacts of mining on the hydrology, land, water resources and the atmosphere of the area subjected to mineral exploitation. One of the variables is implemented as an operational workflow addressing SDG15, “life on land”. The workflow is intended to assess the area of forest ecosystem lost due to the presence of a mining site. Geospatial data on the extent of mining concessions and forest cover are combined using ArcGISTM. The workflow is successively translated into a Unix script to automatize the process of data treatment. The script is developed using the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). The use of a Virtual Laboratory Platform (VLab), a web-service-based access platform, increases the accessibility of data and resources and the re-use of the script. This work is a first attempt to propose a framework of EEVs, derived data workflows, while the underlying methodology, partially based on scientific publications and on personal reasoning, still needs to be tested and, improved based on expertise in the sector.

In the project X3D4Pop we investigate if "mixed" satellite image pairs acquired on two different dates can be used to calculate meaningful building heights in urban areas. Based on These results, the dependency of urban population estimation models on the availability and quality of 3D data is tested. Study areas are Port-au-Prince and Salzburg. The 3D-models are validated against LiDAR-derived elevation models, population numbers are compared with rastered population data from Statistik Austria. The project explores first steps towards an urban population estimation Service by remote sensing, for the humanitarian community.

Im Projekt X3D4Pop wird untersucht, inwiefern Bildpaare, die an unterschiedlichen Tagen aufgenommen wurden, geeignet sind, um daraus brauchbare Höheninformation von Gebäuden in Städten abzuleiten. Darauf aufbauend wird getestet, wie stark die Abschätzung der Bevölkerungszahl von der Verfügbarkeit von 3D-Daten abhängt. Testgebiete sind Salzburg und Port-au-Prince. Als Referenz dienen aus LiDAR-Daten abgeleitete Höhenmodelle sowie gerasterte Bevölkerungsdaten von Statistik Austria. Ziel ist, die Arbeitsabläufe eines Services zur urbanen Bevölkerungsabschätzung basierend auf Fernerkundungsdaten für humanitäre Organisationen zu entwickeln. In the project X3D4Pop we investigate if “mixed” satellite image pairs acquired on two different dates can be used to calculate meaningful building heights in urban areas. Based on These results, the dependency of urban population estimation models on the availability and quality of 3D data is tested. Study areas are Port-au-Prince and Salzburg. The 3D-models are validated against LiDAR-derived elevation models, population numbers are compared with rastered population data from Statistik Austria. The project explores first steps towards an urban population estimation Service by remote sensing, for the humanitarian community. (VLID)4482054

The goal of this study is to develop recommendations for a set of footprint limits for a Green Economy, by translating the environmental limits of our planet (“Planetary Boundaries”) to the context of Swiss demand (i.e. consumption). The proposed limit values serve as a rough orientation on a sustainable level of resource consumption from a scientific point of view; they are not meant as directly applicable political targets. We conclude that Switzerland should, as a priority, act on its footprints related to Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, Biodiversity Loss and Nitrogen Losses. This suggestion is based on the importance of these environmental processes for the good functioning of the global Earth system, the current global pressure on them as well as on the Swiss contribution to these pressures.

Globally, biomass fires are burning yearly (in average) between 3 and 4.5 million km2 depending on years and sensor used. Africa is by far the main region affected. Biomass fires affect both local and global environment. With impacts to local biodiversity, soil, as well as produce large amount of Green House Gases affecting the global climate. Methodologies for evaluating the value of ecosystems (and related services) are still in their preliminary stage and there are large level of uncertainties and margins of errors. Despite these gaps in knowledge, even using a conservative approach based on minimal values lead to colossal economic losses bringing a new light on the economics of wild fires impacts. Globally the economic direct losses are between several dozen to hundreds of billions each year. To these values, the cost of the recovery period should be added, the global economic losses are likely to exceeds hundreds billion US$ per year. We cannot leave such level of uncertainties associated with such potential high economic losses. It is therefore a priority to improve the methodologies so that margins of errors are largely decreased.

As the ongoing global economic crisis has put a spotlight on hidden risks in the global economic sys- tem, landmark disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and the East Japan Earthquake and Chao Phraya river floods in Thailand in 2011, may have contributed to a turning point in business aware- ness of disaster risks. Businesses and governments are beginning to recognise a new category of toxic assets as an unfore- seen consequence of economic globalisation. While these toxic assets do not currently appear on their balance sheets, embedding disaster risk management in business processes is increasingly seen as a key to resilience, competitiveness and sustainability: a business survival kit in an increas- ingly unpredictable, complex and fast-changing world. But this change is recent, and there are few blueprints or well-worn paths to follow. In the coming years, as more businesses innovate and gain experience in this area, new paradigms will emerge that in turn will help to redefine the future of disaster risk reduction.

In May 2009, the UNISDR system published the 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2009). One component of this report consisted in a global risk analysis. This task was performed by several institutions which join their efforts during two years to achieve a global modelling of hazards. This includes new hazard models for floods, tropical cyclones, landslides, drought and tsunamis as well as re-interpretation of earthquakes hazard. It allowed for the computation of human and economical exposure. A totally new methodology was used to calibrate vulnerability by using a so- called "event per event" analysis. This allowed determining what are the socio-economical and contextual parameters that are associated with human and economical vulnerability. This new methodology allows considering the intensity of each event as well as contextual parameters in order to compute the risk for different natural hazards. Risk maps were produced for four natural hazards (i.e. floods, earthquakes, landslides and tropical cyclones). This was provided at a resolution of 1 x 1 km. This also allow for the computation of an index for comparing the risk level of different countries. Trend in risk were also studied.

An observation of disaster risk patterns and trends at the global level allows a visualization of the major concentrations of risk described in the previous chapter and an identification of the geographic distribution of disaster risk across countries, trends over time and the major drivers of these patterns and trends. The analysis presented in this chapter, developed by a large, interdisciplinary group of researchers from around the world, makes global disaster risk more visible – a key step towards mobilizing the political and economic commitment needed to reduce it. Given the growing influence of climate change, the centrepiece of this chapter is an analysis of the mortality and economic loss4 risk for three weather-related hazards: tropical cyclones, floods and landslides. In addition new insights have been gained into other hazards such as earthquakes, tsunami and drought.

Although the gold industry is often presented as a “first foreign direct investment” leading to positive outcomes in many developing countries and securing the wealth of many nations, it is also clear that some of its practices have negative environmental impacts. The use of hazardous chemicals and the generation of large amounts of mining waste(1) often result in lasting pollution for the environment. Are such current extraction processes sustainable and, if they are, at what costs?

Following the tsunami that wreaked havoc in North Indian Ocean coastal areas on 26 December 2004, rapid rehabilitation of infrastructure is needed to help restore the livelihoods of local populations. A thorough understanding of factors leading to higher exposure to the tsunami is essential for improving coastal management, in order to rebuild near-shore infrastructure in a safer way. To initiate such a process, a spatial and statistical analysis was performed to identify which geophysical and biological configurations were susceptible to be associated with reduced tsunami impacts. Near-shore bathymetry (water depth), the orientation and elevation of coastlines, the distance from the earthquake epicentre and other key geomorphological parameters, presence of mangroves, coral reefs and type of fringing vegetation were all extracted using GIS technologies and correlated with maximum length of inland impacts as recorded by remote sensing or ground surveys. The results clearly indicate that the scale of impact was, in the vast majority of cases, correlated with the distance to fault lines, and the steepness and length of proximal slopes. Areas covered by sea grass were less impacted, whereas areas behind coral reefs were more affected. This is surprising as coral reefs are known to protect from normal waves, and may be because tsunami wavelengths are up to a thousand times longer than other waves. Areas covered by mangroves were less impacted than other areas, probably because mangrove communities tend to be located in sheltered coastal areas. The results provided here are based on information available between February and June 2005, and the model is based on global data sets applied to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Variation in wavelength and origin contributed to diversity among the findings. A more detailed study should be carried out to allow the local-level analysis that is needed for coastal management.

The Seychelles island group was struck by a series of powerful tidal surges, resulting from the tsunami, generated by the earthquake off Indonesia on 26 December 2004. As a direct consequence of these tidal surges two people lost their lives, and hundreds of families suffered damage to their homes and livelihoods. The effects of the tsunami were compounded by exceptionally heavy rainfall on 29 December, causing flooding, landslides, and tree/rock falls. In response to a request from the Government of the Republic of Seychelles, the UNEP Asian Tsunami Disaster Task Force organized a Rapid Assessment Mission to Seychelles at the beginning of February 2005. A rapid cost assessment of repairing the damage caused by the tsunami was conducted by the Government of Seychelles in January 2005. The UNEP rapid environmental assessment drew the following general conclusions based on site visits and discussions with Seychelles organizations. This report appeared in November 2005 and is dealing with the consequences more in detail and formulates recommendations for actions.