EVENT: On March 24th, from 15:00 - 17:00, at WMO Headquarters will be held a ceremony to mark the World Meteorological Day 2025.
Celebrations of the World Meteorological Day will take place worldwide, with events organized by NMHSs on the theme “Closing the early warning gap together”. Halfway through the Early Warnings for All Initiative called by UNSG at World Meteorological Day 2022 and launched at COP28, WMO looks into the global collaboration to achieve the initiative by 2027. Three main channels of collaboration are scaling-up collaboration in the delivery of the pillar 2 of the EW4All (Detection, observations, monitoring, analysis and forecasting of hazards):
- Innovating together - Together to scale-up technologies
- Standing together -Together to foster collaboration in countries
- Investing together - Together to mobilize and share resources
The ceremony will be live-illustrated by Carlotta Cataldi, visual harvester. The World Meteorological Day ceremony will unfold as follows:
Panel part 1 - Official addresses: "Together to foster collaboration among countries"
Where are the gaps and how can we foster collaboration among countries? How does it all start to implement early warnings and how can countries learn from each other? How to implement road maps without overlapping with other actors involved?
Where are the gaps and how can we foster collaboration among countries? How does it all start to implement early warnings and how can countries learn from each other? How to implement road maps without overlapping with other actors involved?
- Professor Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of WMO – Welcome address
- H.E. Mr Juerg Lauber, Permanent representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office at Geneva
- H.E. Mr Mxolisi Nkosi, Permanent representative of South Africa to the United Nations Office at Geneva, on bringing countries together for G20
- H.E. Mr Tovar da Silva Nunes, Permanent representative of Brazil to the United Nations Office at Geneva, on bringing countries together for COP30
Panel part 2 - Innovating together - Together to scale-up technologies
What are the gaps and how can we close them by scaling-up technologies together? How can we improve observations, satellites and scale-up AI and machine learning for better forecasts? How does it all start to implement early warnings and how can countries learn from each other? How to implement road maps without overlapping with other actors involved?
Speakers:
Ms Maureen Ahiataku, Principal Meteorologist at Ghana Meteorological Agency. Ghana just validated their EW4All roadmap and implemented CAP Alerts. The story of a new narrative around collaborating to close the early warning gap.
- Mr Florian Pappenberger, ECMWF Deputy Director-General & Director of Forecasts on how technology and AI improves weather prediction.
- Ms Soma Sen Roy, Meteorologist at the National Weather Forecasting Centre of India Meteorological Department, to talk about recent innovations for closing the early warning gap in India and the region.
- Ms Thelma Cinco – Chief of climatology and hydrometeorology at PAGASA (Philippines), and MIBFEWS project leader, on improving the understanding of impact in the last mile.
Panel part 3 - Investing together – Together to mobilize and share resources
Why investing in early warnings and how much does it cost to close the early warning gap? What is the interest of businesses to invest in early warnings? How can we scale-up South-South cooperation?
Speakers:
- Mr Yi Wang, Director of World Meteorological Center Beijing Operation Office, on South-South financial support.
- Ms Carolina Fuentes Castellanos, Director of the Santiago Network Secretariat. WMO recently joined the Santiago Network, on the importance of networks to close the early warning gap.
- Mr Niels Holm-Nielsen, Global Technical Lead for Resilience and Disaster Risk Management, World Bank, on financial contribution to close the early warning gap.
Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General on World Meteorological Day 2025, March 23rd.
The dark predictions of meteorologists are coming to pass. Our climate is going up in flames. Every one of the last ten years has been the hottest in recorded history. Ocean heat is breaking records. And every country is feeling the effects – whether scorched by fires, swept by floods, or pummelled by unprecedented storms.
The theme of this year’s World Meteorological Day – Closing the Early Warning Gap Together – reminds us that, in this new climate reality, early warning systems are not luxuries. They are necessities and sound investments – providing an almost ten-fold return. Yet, almost half the world’s countries still lack access to these life-saving systems. It is disgraceful that, in a digital age, lives and livelihoods are being lost because people have no access to effective early warning systems.
The United Nations Early Warnings for All initiative aims for everyone, everywhere to be protected by an alert system by 2027. The world must come together, and urgently scale-up action and investment, to realize this goal.
We need high-level political support for the Initiative within countries, a boost in technology support, greater collaboration between governments, businesses and communities, and a major effort to scale-up finance. Increasing the lending capacity of the Multilateral Development Banks is key. The Pact for the Future agreed last year made important strides forward, it must be delivered in full. So must the COP29 finance outcome.
At the same time, we must intensify our efforts to tackle the climate crisis at source – through rapid and deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions – to prevent it getting unimaginably worse. This year all countries must honour the promise to deliver new national climate action plans that align with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In an era of climate disaster, every person on Earth must be protected by an early warning system as a matter of justice. Together, let’s deliver.
United Nations Secretary-General.
Statement by Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, President of WMO, on the occasion of World Meteorological Day 2025, March 23rd.
On World Meteorological Day, March 23, 2022, the United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres announced a landmark commitment:
“The United Nations will take the lead in new actions to ensure that everyone on the planet is protected by early warning systems within the next five years.”
Early Warnings For All seeks to reach everyone with early warning systems by the end of 2027.
We are now at the halfway point and much progress has been made. As of end of 2024, 108 countries report having some capacity for multi-hazard early warning systems. This is more than double the 52 countries in 2015.
However much remains to be done.
Today, I emphasize three critical gaps that we must continue to must be address through strengthened collective efforts.
1. Bridging the Capacity Gap Among WMO Members
There are still significant capacity gaps among WMO Members. On behalf of the World Meteorological Organization, I call upon global stakeholders—including the UN, international and regional development agencies, and national governments—to work together by providing the necessary resources and support to help these vulnerable nations establish effective early warning systems as soon as possible.
2. Closing the Technical and Collaboration Gap Within WMO
The rapid advancement of technologies such as artificial intelligence is transforming meteorological forecasting and disaster monitoring. Leading global centers, such as ECMWF, and several NMHSs have already integrated AI into their operational systems. However, disparities remain among WMO Members technical capacity to take advantages of these rapid and exciting advancements.
I urge all WMO constituent bodies—particularly the Technical Commissions, Research Board, and Regional Associations—to work together to bridge these collaboration and technical gaps. By embracing emerging technologies like AI, we can develop new standards, guidelines, and best practices that will empower all Members, especially those most vulnerable, to enhance disaster monitoring, early warning, and forecasting, particularly for extreme weather events.
In this regard, I also call for strengthened strategic guidance, progress oversight, and high-level coordination from Congress and the Executive Council to ensure WMO’s strongest contribution to the UN Early Warnings for All initiative.
3. Strengthening Collaboration Across the Four Pillars of Early Warning Systems
The Early Warnings for All initiative is built upon four foundational pillars:Disaster Risk Knowledge and Management – jointly led by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and WMO.
Detection, Observation, Monitoring, Analysis, and Forecasting – led by WMO.
Warning Dissemination and Communication – led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Preparedness and Response Capabilities – led by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Numerous other UN and international organizations also play a crucial role in the development of early warning systems. The Early Warnings for All initiative is a groundbreaking effort that not only advances technical early warning capabilities but also fosters stronger cooperation across these four pillars. The goal is to create a fully integrated UN value chain together—saving lives and mitigating economic losses.
At the national level, it is equally important to close collaboration gaps among government agencies. True disaster risk reduction and prevention can only be achieved through well-coordinated, multi-sectoral early warning systems. I urge WMO and its Members to proactively engage with relevant UN organizations, international partners, and national agencies to develop comprehensive and effective early warning systems. Furthermore, NMHSs should actively promote the significant economic and social benefits of early warning systems to their governments and the public.
Conclusion
Early Warnings for All make economic sense. On a global scale, every US$ 1 invested in early warnings is estimated to result in US$ 9 in net economic benefits. In some regions it’s even higher.
I sincerely encourage all WMO Members to intensify their efforts and achieve significant progress in Closing the Early Warning Gap Together. Through enhanced collaboration, innovation, and commitment, we can build a safer and more resilient world for all.
President of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
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