UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : SG Guterres Early Warnings

UN chief urges boost to life-saving weather warning systems, stresses role of climate change science

No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather — and saving lives means making early-warning systems accessible to all, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday.

“Early-warning systems work,” Mr. Guterres told the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva. “They give farmers the power to protect their crops and livestock. Enable families to evacuate safely. And protect entire communities from devastation.”

“We know that disaster-related mortality is at least six times lower in countries with good early-warning systems in place,” the UN chief said.

He added that just 24 hours’ notice before a hazardous event can reduce damage by up to 30 per cent.

In 2022, Mr. Guterres launched the “Early Warnings for All” initiative aiming to ensure that “everyone, everywhere” is protected by an alert system by 2027. Progress has been made, with more than half of all countries now reportedly equipped with multi-hazard early-warning systems. The world’s least developed countries have nearly doubled their capacity since official reporting began “but we have a long way to go,” the UN chief acknowledged.

At a special meeting of the World Meteorological Congress earlier this week, countries endorsed an urgent Call to Action aiming to close the remaining gaps in surveillance.

WMO head Prof. Celeste Saulo, who has been urging a scale-up in early-warning system adoption, warned that the impacts of climate change are accelerating, as “more extreme weather is destroying lives and livelihoods and eroding hard-won development gains”.

She spoke of a “profound opportunity to harness climate intelligence and technological advances to build a more resilient future for all.”

Weather, water, and climate-related hazards have killed more than two million people in the past five decades, with developing countries accounting for 90 per cent of deaths, according to WMO.

Mr. Guterres emphasized the fact that for countries to “act at the speed and scale required” a ramp-up in funding will be key.

“Reaching every community requires a surge in financing,” he said. “But too many developing countries are blocked by limited fiscal space, slowing growth, crushing debt burdens and growing systemic risks.”

He also urged action at the source of the climate crisis, to try to limit fast-advancing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial era temperatures – even though we know that this target will be overshot over the course of the next few years, he said.

“One thing is already clear: we will not be able to contain the global warming below 1.5 degrees in the next few years,” Mr. Guterres warned. “The overshooting is now inevitable. Which will mean that we're going to have a period, bigger or smaller, with higher or lower intensity, above 1.5 degrees in the years to come.”

Still, “we are not condemned to live with 1.5 degrees” if there is a global paradigm shift and countries take appropriate action.

At the UN’s next climate change conference, where states are expected to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, “we need to be much more ambitious,” he said. COP30 will take place on 10-21 November, in Belén, Brazil.

“In Brazil, leaders need to agree on a credible plan in order to mobilize $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 for developing countries, to finance climate action,” Mr. Guterres insisted.

Developed countries should honour their commitment to double climate adaptation funding to $40 billion this year and the Loss and Damage Fund needs to attract “substantial contributions,” he said.

The mechanism, designed to support the most vulnerable countries and help them adapt to climate change impacts, was operationalized at COP28 in 2023 and had attracted just under $789 million in pledges as of September this year, falling short of needs.

The UN chief also called on leaders to fully tap into the “unlimited power and potential” of renewables, which he called the “cheapest, fastest and smartest” energy sources.

“They represent the only credible path to end the relentless destruction of our climate,” he said.

Finally, Mr. Guterres stressed the need to “fight disinformation, online harassment and greenwashing,” referring to the UN-backed Global Initiative on Climate Change Information Integrity.

“Scientists and researchers should never fear telling the truth,” he said.

He expressed his solidarity with the scientific community and said that the “ideas, expertise and influence” of the WMO, which marks its 75th anniversary this week, are needed now “more than ever”.

The UN chief paid tribute to the UN agency’s monitoring and forecasting, which enable “warnings and guidance that protect communities and save millions of lives and billions of dollars each year”.

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