The first Hydromet Gap Report tells us how far we have to go to tap the benefits of effective weather and climate services. It presents the challenges of the complex global and local undertaking required and proposes priority actions to scale up support to developing countries to strengthen their capacity.
It highlights how investments in multi-hazard early warning systems create benefits worth at least ten times their costs and are vital to build resilience to extreme weather. And yet,only 40 percent of countries currently have effective warning systems in place, and large gaps remain in the vital underpinning observations data upon which these services depend, particularly in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
An estimated 23,000 lives per year could be saved and potential annual benefits of at least US$ 162 billion could be realized by improving weather forecasts, early warning systems, and climate information – known as hydromet, according to the report.
Current pledges, made in light of the Paris Agreement, are estimated to result in an average temperature increase of 3.2°C or more by the end of the century. Developing countries, and in particular SIDS and LDCs, are already experiencing the most devastating impacts from increasing weather, water and climate-related extreme events. This not only calls for ambitious mitigation measures but also for stepped-up adaptation and resilience efforts.
“It’s critical that we strengthen local and global resilience and capacity to prepare and adapt. A big part of that success will depend on our ability to predict and protect. Therefore, better weather forecasts, early warnings and climate information are essential,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The report was launched on 8 July 2021 by leaders of the Alliance for Hydromet Development, which UNEP is part of, at a high-level event on the hydromet solutions needed for effective climate action and sustainable development.
