GeoSphere Austria is to run a national damage database for natural disasters

27 October 2026

The Wissenschaftsausschuss, the science committee of Austria's Nationalrat, approved an amendment to the GeoSphere-Austria-Gesetz on 30 September 2026 that makes GeoSphere Austria the operator of a national damage database for natural events. The bill was presented by Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner and came before the full Nationalrat on 15 October 2026. GeoSphere Austria is to provide the data and analysis infrastructure for a central database meeting the criteria of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, building on CESARE, the national event and damage database it already runs for the Austrian Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction. Only non-personal data will be processed. A new ten-member Kuratorium is to begin work on 1 October 2027 and six months are allowed for implementation. The database is meant for disaster preparedness, risk assessment and management planning, evaluating prevention measures, research, and meeting international and EU reporting obligations. The amendment was backed by the OeVP, SPOe, NEOS and the Greens, and opposed by the FPOe.