UN Global Early Warning Initiative for the Implementation of Climate Adaptation

Early Warning Systems are a proven, effective, and feasible climate adaptation measure, that save lives, and provide a tenfold return on investment. The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability recognized early warning systems, climate services and disaster risk management activities as key cross-cutting adaptation options, that enhance the benefits of other adaptation measures when combinediii. G7 Ministers recently emphasized their support for early warning systems, in the context of strengthening anticipatory action in humanitarian assistance.iv The practicality, implementability, and universal political appeal of early warning systems makes them a fitting focus area of COP27. 

H.E. President El-Sisi of Egypt highlighted turning promises and pledges into implementation on the groundv as a top priority of Egypt’s COP27 Presidency. President El-Sisi also underscored the need to enhance the size, quality and mechanisms of climate financing that are available to developing countries, including to help them to adapt to the negative effects of climate change. In this regard, both COP26 and COP27 Presidencies have called forvi developed countries to follow through on their commitments made in Glasgowvii  to at least double their climate finance for adaptation to developing countries by 2025, aiming at achieving balance between funding adaptation and mitigation.  

And yet, one in three people are still not covered by early warning systems and there is insufficient capacity worldwide to translate early warnings into early actionviii. On 23 March 2023, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, announcedix the United Nations would spearhead new action to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within five years. He asked the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to lead this effort and to present an action plan to achieve this goal at the next United Nations Climate Conference, later this year in Egypt. The developing plan is aligned with, and leverages, other mutually complementary COP27 priorities, such as the Action for Water Adaptation and Resilience (AWARE) initiative, particularly in the context of early warnings for floods and droughts – two of the most impactful climate hazards that societies face. 

WMO has been working with Members and partner agencies to develop a global architecture for achieving the goal, to present as an action plan, connected relevant financial mechanisms at COP27. This will utilize advanced analysis to improve the understanding of the global status of early warnings, across the full early warning to early action value cycle and will include a mapping of international early warning development efforts already planned for the next 5 years. This work is designed to highlight where outstanding gaps remains, and where the international community should focus and invest additional efforts as a matter of urgency.  

With 3.3 to 3.6 billion people living in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate changex, and global temperatures continuing to risexi, it is more important than ever that the international community now send a strong commitment to act to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within the next five years. 

Event Programme 

Introduced by Ambassador Elina Kalkku, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations in New York, and oderated by Dr Paul Egerton, WMO Director of Cabinet