International Consortium on Landslides: From IDNDR, IGCP, UNITWIN, WCDRR 2 & 3 to Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020

Abstract The International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) was proposed and established in January 2002, based on the Japan–China international joint research activities (1991–1999) in a part of IDNDR (International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction) and the UNESCO-IUGS Joint programme IGCP-425: Landslide Hazard Assessment and Cultural Heritage (1998–2003). The ICL has developed through the UNESCO-KU-ICL UNITWIN Cooperation Programme from 2003, the second World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe in 2005, the 2006 Tokyo Action Plan, the third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai in 2015, and the ISDR-ICL Sendai Landslide Partnerships 2015–2025. On 5 November 2020, the Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020 for global promotion of understanding and reducing landslide disaster risk was launched by 90 signatory organizations consisting of the ICL, ICL supporting organizations and other stakeholders. The ICL history is reviewed focusing on the link with United Nations Programmes, UN World Conferences by the founding, the second, the immediate past, and the current Presidents of the ICL.