Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. The global annual mean temperature is approximately 1.2 °C warmer than pre-industrial times. We are far off track from reducing global greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to avert significant impacts of climate and extremes and limit temperature rise to within 1.5 °C of the pre-industrial reference in line with the Paris Agreement. This has adverse consequences across all SDGs.
Alongside climate mitigation, United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres has called for a breakthrough on adaptation and resilience in 2021, with significant increases in the volume and predictability of adaptation finance. This includes initiatives to strengthen forecast-based resilience-building approaches in order to ensure all people, especially the most vulnerable in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), can adapt and be more resilient to the socioeconomic consequences of inevitable future weather and climate extreme events.
Science-based, data-driven weather and climate services, such as multi-hazard early warning systems, are the foundation for effective adaptation measures. These services are proven to provide a significant return on investments, yielding benefits across all SDGs. Yet large capacity gaps remain, particularly in countries most vulnerable to weather and climate extreme events.
The Alliance for Hydromet Development was launched at COP25 in Madrid. The Alliance members collectively committed to unite and scale up efforts to close the capacity gap on high-quality weather, climate, hydrological, and related environmental services – hydromet - as the foundation for resilient and sustainable development. It brings together the World Meteorological Organization and international development, humanitarian and financial institutions providing hydromet support to developing countries.
Objective
The high-level public event will bring together the principals of the Alliance for Hydromet Development and senior country representatives to raise awareness of the foundational role of hydromet development in underpinning climate action and resilient and sustainable development.
The event will launch the first Hydromet Gap Report, the flagship publication of the Alliance, with a presentation of findings related to the hydromet capacity gap and recommendations for priority actions to close the gap – in particular the creation of the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF).
Programme
Moderator: Laura Tuck, Chair of the Alliance Hydromet Gap Report Editorial Team
| 08:00-08:10 |
Opening Welcome and introductory remarks by the moderator followed by opening remarks from
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| 08:10-08:20 |
Launch of the first Hydromet Gap Report from the Alliance for Hydromet Development
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| 08:20-08:55 |
Priority action for closing the hydromet gap: The Systematic Observations Financing Facility
Moderator-led interactive dialogue with panel members:
Questions for the panel from the audience Video statements from Alliance Members:
Concluding remarks from moderator |
| 08:55-09:00 |
Closing remarks
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