China has committed its full support to the UN’s Early Warnings for All Initiative.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) signed a cooperation agreement supporting the initiative, which seeks to ensure that everyone is covered by warnings of potentially dangerous weather by the end of 2027.
Speaking at a Belt and Road Forum on Early Warnings for All in China, Prof. Petteri Taalas, WMO secretary-general, said, “China is a very strong player in meteorology and we are very pleased that you are able to share your expertise with other countries. This kind of expertise is very much needed in less developed countries to promote climate adaptation capacity and resilience to high-impact weather events. Now we have the Early Warnings for All and that is a great opportunity to implement the Belt and Road initiative.”
WMO and the CMA are working together to strengthen regional meteorological cooperation and meteorological support for the Belt and Road Initiative. This includes work in disaster risk reduction, climate services, integrated observation, research and capacity development.
Along the Belt and Road regions, rainstorms, flooding, typhoons, heat waves and drought, low temperature and cold waves are frequent. All countries are faced with shared challenges in terms of meteorological disaster prevention and reduction, and response to climate change, and others.
The trip coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the WMO Regional Training Centre Nanjing (RTC-Nanjing), which has increasingly become an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between meteorological departments of various countries.