Climate change appears as a global natural threat to humankind and is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of other natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, sea level rise, and others. Climate change is driven by global warming generated by carbon emissions. Buildings and infrastructure (the built environment) account for nearly 40% of carbon emissions of the globe. Current built environment needs to be upgraded to be environmentally friendly based on sustainability and clean energy.

At the same time the built environment needs to be upgraded to be earthquake resilient. The current pandemic is showing that the response to a large-scale natural hazard should be based on a community approach, i.e., nobody is safe if everybody is not safe. And this applies not only at a national scale but also at a global scale. At a global scale economic disparity among countries shows different consequences to countries in terms of human and economic losses.

This presentation will discuss climate change, community earthquake resilience and issues associated with international economic and social vulnerabilities, and the importance of a global effort so no country is left behind and earthquake resilience for all could be achieved.