About the Author

Jorn Birkmann is academic officer and head of the Vulnerability Assessment, Risk Management and Adaptive Planning Section at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), and visiting adjunct professor at the department of geography, University of Bonn. He is also lead author for the IPCC Special Report Managing the Risk of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation and lead author for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. He chairs an Expert Working Group on Measuring Vulnerability and is a member of the Academy of Spatial Planning in Germany.