Representatives of 184 countries gathered in Bali to review efforts to protect communities from a rising number of climate hazards and other catastrophes around the world.

According to the UN, the 2022 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction heard only 95 countries reported having multi-hazard early warning systems that give governments, agencies and the general public notice of an impending disaster, with particularly low coverage in Africa, Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing Countries.

Early warning systems were cited as a critical defence against disasters such as floods, droughts and volcanic eruptions in the recent Global Assessment Report, which predicted 560 – or 1.5 disasters a day – by 2030 based on the current trajectory.

It comes after António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, called for the warning systems to cover every person on the planet within five years.

“Early warning systems should be inclusive of communities most at risk with adequate institutional, financial and human capacity to act on early warnings,” said the Co-Chairs’ Summary, known as the Bali Agenda for Resilience.

“A core recommendation is to apply a “Think Resilience” approach to all investments and decision making, integrating disaster risk reduction with the whole of government and the whole of society.”

The Bali Agenda for Resilience comes ahead of the 2022 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on October 13th, dedicated to early warning systems, and was presented at the end of the three-day Global Platform, hosted by the Government of Indonesia.