The UN’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Initiative

Syllabus: GS 3/Environment 

In News 

• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at its Extraordinary Congress in Geneva, rallied its 193 Member States to commit to universal early warning coverage by 2027 under the UN’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative.
  • An Early Warning System (EWS) is an integrated approach that combines hazard monitoring, forecasting, disaster risk assessment, communication, and preparedness to enable timely action for saving lives, livelihoods, and assets at risk.​

UN’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Initiative

• The UN-backed EW4All initiative was launched in 2022 by Secretary-General António Guterres, co-led by WMO, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). 
• Its goal is to ensure that every person — regardless of where they live — is protected by life-saving alerts for hazards such as cyclones, floods, heat waves or droughts.
• The EW4All initiative aims to address the growing threat of weather, water, and climate-related hazards—from cyclones and floods to heatwaves and droughts. 
• The initiative focuses on strengthening the entire early warning “value chain”
  • Monitoring and forecasting hazards
  • Assessing risks
  • Disseminating alerts
  • Ensuring communities can act on them

Need for Early Warning

• Timely warnings (within 24 hours) can reduce disaster damage by 30%.​
• Countries without multi-hazard early warning systems experience disaster mortality rates six times higher and impacts four times greater compared to those with established systems.​
• Since 1970, economic losses from extreme weather events have surpassed US$4 trillion globally.​

Challenges

• Despite progress, stark inequalities persist:
  • As of 2024, only 108 countries have some capacity for multi-hazard early warning systems—up from 52 in 2014.
  • Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and conflict-affected regions remain disproportionately exposed.
  • In countries without adequate systems, disaster mortality is six times higher, and four times more people are affected.
  • Technical barriers include weak observing networks,limited data sharing,Insufficient financing and Lack of community trust and understanding
  • In 50 years, climate-related disasters have killed 2 million people, 90% in developing nations.

Progress

• The EW4All initiative has catalyzed global action:
  • WMO’s 2025 Congress saw 193 Member States endorse a Call to Action for universal coverage by 2027.
  • Country-led assessments and partnerships are driving improvements in hazard monitoring, forecasting, and governance.
  • Integration with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction ensures alignment with broader UN goals.

 Suggestions 

• To meet the 2027 target, the UN and WMO call for Embedding early warning systems in national climate and disaster policies
• Securing long-term, predictable financing
• Empowering national meteorological services with clear mandates
• Combining scientific and indigenous knowledge for inclusive communication
• Harnessing AI and innovation to improve prediction accuracy

Source :DTE