Concept note: The multi-hazard context and its relevance to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction / International Science Council's Hazard Information Profiles (HIPs)

At the intergovernmental level, including in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015), there is widespread acceptance that a ‘multi-hazard’ approach is needed if risk reduction activities are to be more effective. An important development in recent years to support disaster risk management are the UNDRR/ISC Hazard information Profiles, commonly referred to as the HIPs. The first iteration of the HIPs (Murray et al., 2021) involved extensive consultation with scientists and experts around the world, generating 302 profiles for individual hazards.

In this initial iteration, the focus was on key information relevant to each individual hazard with limited attention to how these hazards may interrelate with one another. Yet, across diverse spatial scales, places are typically affected by more than one of the hazard types described in the HIPs. These hazards do not always occur independently, but can interrelate in various ways with other hazards, as well as other components of risk, vulnerability and exposure.

Here we bring together and synthesise a rich body of research, scholarship, and existing conceptual reviews to advance understanding of the multi-hazard concept. We particularly focus on the relevance of interrelationships that exist between different hazard types to diverse users of the HIPs. We argue that deepening this understanding of the multi-hazard concept, and applying it in the context of the HIPs, is critical for addressing the improvements called for in the 2023 Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework, and for supporting the full implementation of the Sendai Framework and successor frameworks. The HIPs have a key role in improving multi-hazard risk characterisation through ensuring a comprehensive approach and systematic use of hazard terminology. The inclusion of a multi-hazard context to each HIP strengthens further their usefulness, allowing reflection on how hazards interrelate and what complex hazard scenarios may be viable in any given place.