Evaluate UN budgets and programmes as an AI Secretary-General

Strengthening Climate Information and Early Warning Systems for science-based climate solutions

The project “Strengthening Climate information and Early Warning Systems for science-based climate solutions” is a strategic initiative aimed at enhancing countries’ capacity to take informed decisions in relation to climate-related hazards and implement science-based solutions for climate resilience by improving their capacity for climate observations, information and multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS). The project is contributing to United Nations Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All Initiative (EW4All) launched to ensure that everyone on Earth is protected from hazardous weather, water, or climate events through life-saving MHEWS by the end of 2027. Climate change is a major multiplier of disaster losses worldwide. From 1998 to 2017, climate-related disasters accounted for 91% of recorded disaster events (UNDRR 2017). The most vulnerable countries, such as least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS), are disproportionately affected by climate-related hazards often battling more frequent and intense extreme and slow-onset weather events (UNDP 2023). Climate change is equally destructive for the environment – for example, the risk of “NaTech” hazards – natural hazards triggering technological disasters – is expected to strongly increase due to climate change (Pilone et al. 2021), in turn causing heightened risk of environmental pollution and biodiversity loss. Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) that inform early action have proven to be able to save lives and assets worth at least 10 times their cost (GCA 2019) and contributed to a near three-fold reduction in mortality from weather, water and climate-related hazards from 1970 to 2019, despite a five-times increase in number of disasters (WMO 2021). However, only half of the countries worldwide, less than half LDCs and less than one third of SIDS are protected by MHEWS (UNDRR 2023). This project will work on strengthening capacity for climate observations, information and early warning systems to inform solutions for climate action, primarily focusing on LDCs and SIDS. Access to high-quality weather and climate data is a fundamental prerequisite for MHEWS, which is why improved infrastructure and capacity for weather and climate observations enabling enhanced data coverage will be the first output of the project. The second output will focus on strengthening institutional and human capacity for data-driven climate information and early warning systems which is key to ensure that data is properly shared among various stakeholders and used to generate impact-based forecasts and early warnings. Enhanced capacity for communication and dissemination of climate information and early warnings for early action will be the third output needed to make sure that actionable warnings reach all the population, including the most vulnerable communities. The project's direct contribution will be seen in one outcome indicator for the Climate Action sub-programme and one indicator for the Science-Policy subprogramme. The project will be a vital step towards equipping countries with the tools, knowledge, and capacity to address climate-related challenges through informed decision-making. With its strategic approach and alignment with UNEP's mandates, programmatic outcomes, and the Sustainable Development Goals, the project stands to address the triple planetary crisis at the local, national, and ultimately global levels.