The Maldives has been included in the list of countries that will receive coordinated and targeted support under the Early Warnings for All action plan of the United Nations (UN).
The UN is fast-tracking the global initiative to ensure that every country is protected by early warnings by 2027. The World Meteorological Organisation stated that early warning systems are a proven, effective, and feasible climate adaptation measure that saves lives and provides a tenfold return on investment.
To aid the Early Warnings for All plan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened an Advisory Panel of leaders of UN agencies, multilateral development banks, humanitarian organisations, civil society, insurance, and IT companies on March 21. The aim is to inject more political, technological, and financial clout to ensure that Early Warnings for All becomes a reality. In the coming months, the UN will step up coordinated action, initially in 30 particularly at-risk countries, including small island developing states and least developed countries.
The initial group of countries to receive coordinated and targeted support include the Maldives. The UN stated that the list will be expanded in the future while support for other countries will continue in the meantime. The initial list consists of countries in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean that are the most vulnerable to natural disasters.
The UN stated that the number of recorded disasters has increased by a factor of five in the past 50 years, driven in part by human-induced climate change. The number of medium- or large-scale disaster events is projected to reach 560 a year or 1.5 each day by 2030 If no action is taken.