WMO Convenes Special Congress
(MENAFN) The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) gathered its 193 member states on Monday for an extraordinary congress aimed at fast-tracking progress toward achieving universal early warning systems by the year 2027.
This initiative aligns with the broader Early Warnings for All campaign led by the United Nations.
The four-day summit began with a high-level ministerial session and also commemorates the WMO’s 75 years as the UN’s specialized agency for climate, water, and weather services.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is slated to speak at the event on Wednesday.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo reflected on the organization’s origins, stating in a recent report, "Seventy-five years ago, the World Meteorological Organization was born out of the reality that weather, water and climate respect no national boundaries."
She stressed the importance of shared international action, noting that "Global collaboration on observations and forecasts is indispensable because no individual country can do this on their own."
Saulo further underlined the critical role of meteorological services in sustainable development, infrastructure strategy, food production, and risk mitigation, asserting that "there can be no resilient development, no food security, no infrastructure planning and no disaster risk reduction without the services, science and infrastructure that we collectively provide."
Despite progress over the past decade, with the number of countries implementing multi-hazard early warning frameworks rising from 52 in 2015 to 108 in 2024, significant shortcomings remain.
The WMO pointed out that many developing and conflict-ridden regions still face substantial challenges. In fact, fatalities from disasters are six times higher in countries with weak or no early warning infrastructure.
The findings of a newly released WMO publication titled Early Warnings for All in Focus: Hazard Monitoring and Forecasting revealed that around 50% of reviewed nations possess only minimal capacity when it comes to observing and forecasting hazards, underscoring the need for enhanced global support and investment in early warning mechanisms.
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