UN chief calls for extreme weather warning systems for everyone on Earth

António Guterres says entire planet should be covered by early warning systems within five years

Everyone on the planet should be covered by an early warning system against extreme weather and climate-related disasters within five years, the UN secretary general has said.

About a third of people around the world are not now covered by early warning systems, but in Africa the problem is greater, with about six in 10 people lacking such warnings.

As climate breakdown takes hold, more people are likely to be affected by extreme weather, including flash floods, heatwaves, more violent storms and coastal storm surges, made worse by sea level rises.

António Guterres said it was unacceptable that so many people were still not covered by early warning systems, and pointed out that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had recently found half of humanity was “in the danger zone” for climate breakdown.

He said: “Human-caused climate disruption is now damaging every region. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change details the suffering already happening. Each increment of global heating will further increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.”

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