Civil Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and shall strive to

comply with the principles of sustainable development in the performance of their duties. " This is
one of the fundamental canons of the Code of Ethics of Civil Engineers. The task of a civil engineer
includes provision of safe, reliable and comfortable infrastructures for housing, transport,
communication, water supply and sanitation, energy, commercial and industrial activities to meet
the needs of a growing population. Today, there is an increasing demand for civil engineers to
focus their efforts on the protection and preservation of the environment. With the increase in
severity and frequency of natural disasters that devastated both developing and advanced
countries, planning, design and construction of infrastructures that are safe for people and at the
same time reduce their impact on further deterioration of the environment becomes a major
challenge. Civil engineers who are experts in the various fields of specialization in structural
engineering, transportation engineering, water resources engineering, geotechnical engineering
and construction engineering must embed in their tasks disaster risk reduction especially in
hazard-prone regions – for when they do this, they not only address safety but also sustainability –
two important issues for maintaining the balance and harmony between the built and natural
environment.