Xinhua Agency, Geneva, October 22 (Reporter Wang Lu) United Nations Secretary-General Guterres said in a speech at the special meeting of the World Meteorological Congress held at the World Meteorological Organization headquarters in Geneva on the 22nd that the current global climate change situation is severe and calls on countries to strengthen early warning systems that save lives.

Guterres said no country can avoid the devastating effects of extreme weather, and saving lives means making early warning systems accessible to everyone.

In 2022, Guterres launched the National Early Warning Initiative, with the goal of ensuring that "everyone, everywhere" will be protected by early warning systems by 2027. According to reports, more than half of the world's countries are equipped with multiple disaster early warning systems.

Guterres fully affirmed the effectiveness of the early warning system,"helping farmers protect crops and livestock, ensure the safe evacuation of families, and protect communities from damage." He said that countries with good early warning systems have significantly reduced disaster-related deaths; issuing warnings 24 hours before a disaster can reduce losses by up to 30%.

Guterres stressed that it will be the key for countries to "act at the required speed and scale" to strengthen the national early warning system, and increasing capital investment will be the key. At the same time, he spoke highly of the role of science in climate action, and said that we need the "ideas, expertise and influence" of the World Meteorological Organization more than ever before.

Guterres said that the current climate change situation is grim, and relevant reports show that the world can no longer control the temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next few years, so it is necessary to take more powerful actions to deal with climate change.

According to the data of the World Meteorological Organization, in the past 50 years, weather, water and climate-related disasters have killed more than 2 million people, 90% of which occurred in developing countries.