Collaboration key to building international resilience to natural hazards
A new Memorandum of Cooperation has been signed by GNS Science and Japan’s National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED).
This is a great step forward for international disaster management collaboration and will ensure communities in both countries can build long term resilience to natural hazards and be better prepared when disaster hits.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) hosted the two parties at a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signing ceremony in Wellington on 8 March.
GNS Science and NIED are already working to address some of the biggest challenges facing residents in both countries, including climate change and natural hazards, like earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides.
The MoC will enable greater exchange of data and insights between the two nations, and it will provide opportunities for New Zealand and Japanese scientists to learn from each other about different approaches to disaster risk reduction.
As well as signing the MoC, the parties engaged in a series of discussions and workshops as part of a wider, MBIE-led programme of cooperation with the Japanese government. This Joint programme supports the exchange of mutually beneficial knowledge, builds collaborative research programmes, and increases commercial opportunities between the two countries.
GNS Science undertakes research to enhance our understanding of geological and Earth system processes and to increase our resilience to natural hazards and climate change. It also operates the GeoNet programme, which maintains 24/7 monitoring and provides data and scientific advice for geological hazards present in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The similarity of the geological settings in both countries creates an opportunity for us to share our knowledge with each other for the benefit of all
“NIED has created one of the world’s most advanced natural hazard monitoring networks and our organisation continues to enable an effective response to the changing climate,” explained Mr. Yoshiaki Ando, Executive Vice-President of NIED. “We are honoured to today formally recognise an agreement that will benefit both of our countries and celebrate the beginning of a strong, collaborative relationship to solve challenges faced by people in both countries—and elsewhere in the world.”