BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 16. Early warning systems pose a key to saving lives and preserving infrastructure, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Kamal Kishore said at the COP29 high-level event on Strengthening Climate Information and Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems for Increased Resilience today, Trend reports.
"Without their effective implementation, it is impossible to achieve global goals for reducing human and economic losses from disasters," he emphasized.
Kishore stressed the importance of investing in early warning systems during a high-level event dedicated to strengthening climate information and multi-hazard early warning systems for resilience building.
He reminded that one of the seven goals of the Sendai Framework is to ensure access to early warning; however, success in this area is crucial for achieving other targets of the framework, such as reducing mortality and the number of people affected by disasters.
Kishor also highlighted that the issue of early warning is relevant for both the Global South and the Global North.
"The events of recent months have shown that natural disasters threaten all regions. We need to work across all time scales—from short-term forecasts to long-term climate trends," he added.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 chairmanship has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
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