Please refer to the attached file. Citation Amarnath, Giriraj, and Niranga Alahacoon. 2026. The State of Early Warning Around the World. International Water Management Institute (IWMI). https: //doi. org/10. 5337/2026. 232. Abstract/Description The United Nations’ Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative set 2027 as the year by which everyone on Earth should be protected by a multi-hazard early warning system. This report takes stock of progress towards that goal, drawing on the Eyes on the Storm webinar series convened by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the International Telecommunication Union, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and other partners in 2025–26. Close to hundred practitioners from national meteorological and disaster services, space agencies, humanitarian networks, insurers, hydropower operators and community organizations across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas described what is working in early warning and what is not. Structured around the four pillars of early warning, the report examines hazard-specific advances for heatwaves, floods, droughts, landslides, and tsunamis; community-led and inclusive approaches; early warning for hydropower and compound crises; the application of artificial intelligence and Earth observation; behavioral and last-mile communication challenges; and financing and public–private partnership. Five findings cut across the evidence: risk knowledge remains the weakest pillar; technology is no longer the binding constraint; the last mile is where warning chains most often break; hazards increasingly arrive together while slow-onset hazards go unnoticed; and finance must be arranged before a hazard strikes. Eleven recommendations translate these findings into action for governments, development partners, the private sector, and communities, from expanding observation networks in climate-risk hotspots to mainstreaming early warning within national governance.
The State of Early Warning Around the World (November 2026)
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