Reinhard Mechler
Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar
Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group
Advancing Systems Analysis Program
Biography
Reinhard Mechler has over 20 years of experience analyzing and addressing socio-economic aspects of disaster and climate change risks. His interest is to provide evidence-based advice to a wide range of public and private sector decision-makers to improve decisions and build resilience against salient risks. Currently, he is the leader of the Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR) Research Group in the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Program. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Graz and is a senior lecturer at the University for Economics and Business in Vienna.Dr. Mechler has led and contributed to many international research and consultancy projects and is currently leading research for the Flood Resilience Alliance, which brings together researchers, international NGOs, and the private sector to build disaster and climate resilience across the globe. He acted as a lead author on the IPCC's special report on managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation (SREX), the 5th assessment report and the report on 1.5°C global warming, and is currently a lead author on the IPCC's 6th assessment report.
Areas of Expertise: Socio-Economics of natural disaster risk management and climate adaptation, climate risk and resilience, disaster risk management and climate change policy, loss and damage, climate finance.
Last update: 24 MAR 2021
Publications
Freeman, P.K., Martin, L.A., Mechler, R. , & Warner-Merl, N.K. (2004). A methodology for incorporating natural catastrophes into macroeconomic projections. Disaster Prevention and Management 13 (4) 337-342. 10.1108/09653560410556564.
Mechler, R. & Weichselgartner, J. (2003). Disaster Loss Financing in Germany - The Case of the Elbe River Floods 2002. IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-03-021
Freeman, P.K., Martin, L.A., Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Mechler, R. , Pflug, G.C. , & Warner-Merl, N.K. (2003). Disaster Risk Management: National Systems for the Comprehensive Management of Disaster Risk and Financial Strategies for Natural Disaster Reconstruction. Report prepared for the Inter-American Development Bank; Washington DC, USA [2003]
Werner, U., Mechler, R. , & Plapp, T. (2003). The Elbe floods of 2002 - Interactions between the financing of flood losses and the perception of flood risk. Zeitschrift fuer Versicherungswesen 54 (23) 722-727.
Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Mechler, R. , & Pflug, G.C. (2003). The IIASA model for the evaluation of financial disaster risk management instruments for developing countries. In: Proceedings of the Third DPRI-IIASA International Symposium on Integrated Disaster Risk Management - Coping with Regional Vulnerability, 3-5 July 2003.