Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo officially opened the Forum in Bali, just as his country mourned dozens of victims of a “cold lava” mudslide from the Mount Merapi volcano, triggered by heavy rainfall.
Hundreds of people have been killed by historic floods in Brazil and East Africa and by flash floods in Afghanistan. Central America and southern Africa face extreme drought.
“These disasters once again show the vulnerability of society to the cascading impact of water-related hazards: either in the form of too much or too little,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a statement to the conference. “Better forecasts and risk management are pivotal to the success of Early Warnings for All.”
Asia is the region worst affected by weather, climate and water-related disasters. 80 percent of these were due to flood and storm events in 2023. There were more than 2,000 fatalities and nine million people directly affected.
At the same time, 3.6 billion people globally face inadequate access to water at least a month per year and this is expected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050.
A ministerial declaration issued an urgent call for more efficient and integrated…
