Registration

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Background

Africa is facing intensifying climate extremes, with 2024 ranking among its hottest years on record, as revealed in the State of the Climate Report. Climate extremes are severely affecting every aspect of socio-economic development across the continent.

Early Warning Systems (EWS) have proven to be one of the most effective tools for reducing climate-related losses - timely alerts can reduce disaster damages by up to 30%. Yet, only about 40% of Africa’s population currently benefits from Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS), leaving millions vulnerable to preventable harm. Integrating and expanding these systems through National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is essential to protect lives, livelihoods, and development gains.

During COP 27, the UN Secretary-General launched the “Early Warnings for All” (EW4All) initiative, which aims to ensure universal protection by 2027. For African countries, particularly small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs), where resource and capacity constraints persist, the challenge is not only integrating EWS into national climate strategies but also accelerating their deployment, scaling proven systems, and ensuring sustainability of operations and local relevance.

This webinar, organized Jointly organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Office for Africa and the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa (RCC EASA) and the  Regional Collaboration Centre West and Central Africa (RCC WACA) is an opportunity to explore how African governments, technical agencies, and partners can leverage NAPs and NDCs to advance but also discuss practical strategies to accelerate the deployment, scale-up, and sustainability of EWS across the continent.

Objectives

• Raise awareness on the UN Secretary-General’s EW4All initiative and its alignment with NAPs and adaptation components in the NDCs.
• Highlight national efforts and challenges in implementing early warning systems through NAPs and NDCs.
• Facilitate knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning on practical examples in implementing EWS as part of the adaptation interventions identified in the NAPs or adaptation components in the NDCs.
• Highlight opportunities for technical support, regional collaboration and funding to scale EWS in the NAPs and the NDCs.

Expected Outcomes

• Increased awareness and understanding of how EW4All can be advanced through NAP processes in African contexts.
• Enhanced collaboration among WMO Permanent Representatives, UNFCCC Focal Points, CTCN/TEC experts, and other national and regional stakeholders.
• Improved understanding of the strategic value of EWS and CIS in achieving national climate adaptation and resilience objectives.
• Strengthened technical capacity to embed EWS and climate technologies into NAPs as tools for reducing climate risk.
• Improved understanding of practical examples from African countries on strengthening EWS and emerging technologies as effective adaptation interventions.