Early Warnings for All is a five-year initiative launched at COP27 in November 2022 by the UN Secretary-General. Following publication and the recommendations from the 2022 Report on the Global status of multi-hazard early warning systems Target G of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The report reiterated the urgency of increasing impacts of climate change and the growing frequency and intensity of disasters; alongside increasing risk from compound, cascading and concurrent multi-hazards and interconnected risks associated with an increasingly volatile and contested world. The report concludes that urgent action is needed to deliver effective end-to-end and people-centred early warning systems through a value-based systems approach.
The Early Warning for All initiative is based on a five-year executive action plan to deliver multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) by 2027, aiming to ensure every person on earth is protected by an early warning system by 2027. The executive action plan is based on four pillars: (i) disaster risk knowledge, (ii) detection and forecasting, (iii) warning dissemination and communication, and (iv) preparedness and anticipatory action.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is responsible for leading the delivery of the warning dissemination and communication pillar. The ITU has released a new background paper highlighting the importance of this pillar of dissemination and communication in the MHEWS value cycle. The paper emphasises the value of a holistic approach to the four pillars of the MHEWS and its value cycle; it sets out the increasing opportunities that stem from modern and evolving communication channels with increasing reach, alongside discussion on the most effective technologies available, to provide at-risk communities with early warning messages and action orientated advice.