The Cyprus National Risk Assessment was first implemented in 2015 in the light of the 1313/2013/EU decision of the European Council and European Parliament in relation to the restructuring of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Article 6(a) of the decision provides for the following:

In order to promote a productive and coherent approach to disaster preparedness by exchanging non-classified information and by exchanging best practices within the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Member-States will carry out risk assessments at national or appropriate sub-national level and will make a summary of the relevant information available to the European Commission by 22 December 2015 and every three years thereafter.

The Cyprus Civil Defence is the authority responsible for the National Risk Assessment program of Cyprus. The preparation of National Risk Assessment reports is now an institutional obligation for every Member-State of the Union.

The European Commission has drawn guidelines in order to provide Member-States with a model methodology for preparing their national risk assessment reports, in line with the relevant ISO 31000 series of international standards.

The first reports to the Commission were filed in 2015 and included climate change, distinct natural and man-made hazards such as earthquake, tsunami, marine pollution and cyber-dangers assessments. These first assessments were carried out in collaboration with the Department of Environment, which had its own European institutional obligation to assess climate change risks. In the same context, the Cyprus Civil Defence hosted a Dutch expert in Cyprus on the basis of the Exchange of Experts Programme.

The most recent National Risk Assessment report was submitted to the European Commission at the end of 2018 and has been posted on the official website of the Cyprus Civil Defence. It includes the following risk assessments:

• Earthquake
• Tsunami
• Floods
• Water shortage
• Technological accidents
• Forest fires
• Sea level rise
• Sea pollution
• Complex / cascading incidents

Risk assessment can be used by all government agencies, insurance companies, researchers and the general public. As an example, rising sea levels in the coming decades are of concern to those involved in marinas and harbors, coastal development and land sales.

The next Risk Assessment Report will be submitted to the Commission in 2020. Its form is discussed in the Commission’s Expert Group for disaster reduction .