Speech prepared for delivery at the launch of the first Hydromet Gap Report on the margins of the 2021 United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
“Knowledge is power”, as the old saying goes. It is the power to act wisely and with forethought. To do the rights thing at the right time. To respond and adapt. This is a power we must fully harness as our climate changes, so that we can save lives and livelihoods.
At the moment, as the Hydromet Gap Report makes clear, we lack full and timely data and knowledge on weather emergencies, and so the full power to cope with them.
Weather, climate and water-related hazards have caused over 11,000 disasters and claimed over two million lives over the last 50 years. Today, one in three people are not properly covered by early warning systems – which is why they are a top priority for 88 per cent of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in their Nationally Determined Contributions. This is why UNEP was particularly pleased to see the recent approval of a Green Climate Fund project for US$ 47.4 million for South Pacific nations to enhance climate and weather knowledge.
The Alliance for Hydromet Development and the upcoming Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) are so important because they can help to deliver the intelligence, we need to prevent loss of life and reduce impacts on property, assets, and the environment. Even on purely financial terms, the investment is worth it. For every dollar invested in surface-based observations in developing countries, at least twenty-five dollars in socio-economic returns can come back.
This is why UNEP is deeply committed to the Alliance and the SOFF. We all need to back these initiatives to the hilt to deliver science-based, data-driven weather and climate services, and save lives.
