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Nov 16th - 1 Min Read

Extreme Weather Disasters And UN Proposal For Early Climate Warning System

By: Ayat Abdulhameed

Extreme weather disasters displaced three times more people than war, with 59.1 million people internally displaced in 2021 worldwide; most were displaced by climate-related disasters, far higher than displacement due to armed conflict. It is estimated that at least 15000 people died explicitly due to the heat only in 2022. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. The world population just hit 8 billion on the 15th of November due to progress and development in controlling diseases and producing food. Yet the climate crisis threatens to undo the last fifty years of improvement in global health and poverty reduction and further widen existing health inequalities between and within populations. In answer to the climate crisis, on November 7th, 2022, the UN unveiled the early climate warning system for the entire world, investments of 3.1 billion of USD over the five years would be used to advance the four key Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) pillars:


- Disaster risk knowledge (374 million USD) - systematically collect data and          undertake risk assessments on hazards and vulnerabilities.


- Observations and forecasting (1.18 billion USD) - develop hazard monitoring and early warning services.


- Preparedness and response (1 billion USD) - build national and community response capabilities.


- Dissemination and communication (550 million USD) - communicate risk information, so it reaches all who need it and is understandable and usable.


The plan identifies critical areas for advancing universal disaster risk knowledge and outlines the priority actions required to achieve this, building on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It prioritizes the top technical activities needed to enhance the capacity to detect hazards, close the observation gap, and advance global forecast data processing systems and data exchange, optimizing international efforts. The plan indicates how key foundational financing mechanisms will be scaled up to support the achievement of the goal, including a new framework developed by the Climate Risk and Early WarningSystems (CREWS) Initiative and Green Climate Fund and the operationalization of the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF). The plan also calls for increased coherence and alignment of existing and planned investments from international financing institutions. The program recognizes current successful two-sided funds for early warnings and calls for accelerating these mechanisms. Tracking progress, informing decision-making, and measuring success are all key to ensuring effective implementation. Our only home planet, the earth, is becoming uninhabitable. It is our responsibility to restore what we destroyed; even a simple action like reducing plastic, saving energy at home, and walking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can help.