Whether within or between organisations, differences over language can lead to confusion and disagreement. It may drive noncooperation and reinforce working in vacuums. This confusion on key terms and concepts is not just happening at a sectoral level – it also occurs within organisations.

There has been a rapid growth of interest in and implementation of risk-informed early action approaches towards crises and disasters. A variety of stakeholders including humanitarian, development and climate actors; organisations working on risk finance; and providers of early warning and risk analysis information are often working on very similar issues while employing very different terminology to describe their activities. Alternatively, they may employ the same terms to mean very different things.

The process to develop the glossary aimed for the highest degree of consensus possible around the definitions between experts from a variety of sectors, while identifying and highlighting areas where real differences of meaning and use exist. For this reason, this glossary is descriptive, not prescriptive. It does not present a single, definitive definition for any term, but attempts to outline how the term is used by the various actors engaged in risk-informed early action.