As climate-related disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity, the importance of Early Warning Systems (EWS) has never been clearer.
These systems are essential for saving lives and reducing economic losses, yet the financing behind them remains fragmented and often untracked. To overcome these challenges, the CREWS EW4ALL Accelerator for LDCs and SIDS Project has funded the Global Observatory for EWS Investments .
The Observatory answers a call from the EW4All (Early Warnings for All) Advisory Panel for a comprehensive framework to monitor EWS financing. Extensive consultations with multilateral development banks (MDBs) and bilateral donors laid a solid foundation for the Tool, and a bilateral donor meeting in March 2024 prompted renewed global commitment, focusing on bridging crucial financing gaps.
The Observatory, co-designed by WMO and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) will enhance the coherence and alignment of investments in EWS worldwide. By tracking and tagging EWS-related investments, the Observatory provides an overview of current global funding flows, helping stakeholders identify gaps, avoid duplication, and ensure that resources reach communities most at risk. This platform will empower governments, financial institutions, and humanitarian organizations to identify funding gaps and make informed resource decisions.
Following the launch of the Observatory in December 2024, this year will move towards deepening collaboration with the International Finance Institutions, and exploring the possibilities of AI-assisted analysis to track and visualize EWS investments.
AI is being employed to streamline information extraction from MDBs projects documents, focusing on identifying the part of the budget dedicated to EWS activities. This development will allow experts to more accurately categorize funds allocated to EWS, including their distribution across pillars. The system aims to avoid duplication, enhance coherence, and support decision-making.
The Global Observatory for EWS Investments embodies a paradigm shift in resilience investment monitoring. WMO and UNDRR, as well as their partners emphasize that this initiative is crucial for building climate resilience in vulnerable regions, especially in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS), where early warning systems are essential to safeguard lives and livelihoods.
