Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are at risk of flooding from the sea, from rivers and from rainfall, with thousands of casualties and extensive damage and loss of wellbeing occurring each year.  Due to population growth, economic development and climate change, these numbers will continue increasing in the future.

For a sustainable future, it is imperative that the flood-prone population is made safer from flooding through better quantification of risk, development of sustainable and effective solutions, effective and equitable strategies for implementation, and sound warnings and information in case of disasters. This way, we can make the world safer from flooding at acceptable costs.