United Nations secretary-general António Guterres has called for an urgent acceleration in the global rollout of early warning systems, describing them as essential to saving lives and protecting economies from the growing impacts of extreme weather and climate change.
Speaking at the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Extraordinary Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, marking the agency’s 75th anniversary, Guterres urged governments, development banks and the private sector to increase investment in meteorological infrastructure, data systems and forecasting capacity.
“Without your rigorous modeling and forecasting, we would not know what lies ahead – or how to prepare for it,” Guteres said.
“Without your long-term monitoring, we wouldn’t benefit from the warnings and guidance that protect communities and save millions of lives and billions of dollars each year.”
The event marked the midpoint of the Early Warnings for All initiative, launched by Guterres in 2022 to ensure that everyone on Earth is protected by life-saving early warnings by 2027. WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo issued a call to action urging countries to scale up multi-hazard early warning systems, expand observing networks and strengthen impact-based forecasting.
“It is a moment of profound opportunity to harness climate intelligence and technological advances to build a more resilient future for all,” said Saulo. “We must leave nobody behind.”
According to the WMO, every dollar invested in early warning systems can yield up to 15 dollars saved in reduced disaster impacts, provided countries commit to open data exchange, sustainable financing and international standards.
Guterres outlined three priorities for accelerating progress: embedding early-warning systems into government policies and budgets; boosting financing and easing debt burdens for developing countries; and delivering new climate action plans aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Progress has been made. As of 2024, the WMO says 108 countries report having some capacity for multi-hazard early warning systems, more than double the 52 countries in 2015, and this has increased further in 2025.
Praising the WMO as “a barometer of truth”, Guterres said global cooperation, backed by modern forecasting technologies and robust data networks, will be critical to ensuring universal life-saving early warning coverage by 2027.
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