COP27: UN chief announces global early warning system 'that can save thousands, if not millions, of lives'

Every year the frequency of climate-related extreme weather is increasing, however, half of the world's nations still lack sophisticated early warning systems that could save lives. Attempting to overcome this shortfall, the UN on Monday unveiled a five-year proposal to develop a global early warning system for expensive and deadly extreme weather events.

The system will cost an estimated $3.1 billion, which, according to Antonio Guterres, the chief of the UN is a tiny price to pay for techniques that have been proven to save thousands, if not millions, of lives.

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Speaking at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, Guterres said that it will cost $3.1 billion, or less than 50 cents per person, and that "he has called for every person on Earth to be protected by early warning systems within five years, with the priority to support the most vulnerable first."

Petteri Taalas, director-general of the World Meteorological Organization, said in a statement that "early warnings save lives" and offer significant economic benefits.

"Just 24 hours notice of an impending hazardous event can cut the ensuing damage by 30 per cent."

According to the Global Commission on Adaptation, developing nations could prevent losses ranging from $3 billion to $16 billion annually by investing just $800 million in such systems.

As per an AFP report quoting UN data, disaster-related deaths are eight times more common in nations with weak infrastructure than in those with effective safeguards.

Early warning systems for floods, droughts, heatwaves, cyclones, and other calamities allow for disaster mitigation planning which over the past 20 years, has helped decrease the number of fatalities and missing people by 50 per cent, even as the number of individuals affected by disasters has nearly doubled.