Start Network is calling for UNFCCC parties to involve local actors in improving early warning systems to protect at-risk communities from the worst impacts of the escalating climate crisis. Communities need access to timely and actionable risk information so that they can take action to anticipate, prepare for, and mitigate the impacts of climate hazards.
Despite global momentum to expand the coverage of early warning systems, significant gaps remain. In 2024, nearly half of countries in the world – 45 percent – lacked multi-hazard early warning systems, including fewer than half of Less Developed Countries and only a third of Small Island Developing States, despite their disproportionate vulnerability to the impacts of the climate crisis.
Even where early warning systems do exist, they often do not translate into early action. Early warnings often do not reach at-risk people, provide forecasts on too large a geographic scale to be of value to communities, or are not contextualised to reflect local realities.
Local, indigenous, and traditional knowledge holds the potential to not only bridge gaps in the coverage of national early warning systems but to serve as a foundation for understanding and acting on risk. Indigenous Peoples and communities have developed methods to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to disasters, drawing on their deep knowledge and experience.
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🚨 Early warning systems (EWS) can save lives, protect livelihoods, and prevent billions in losses each year - but only if they work for everyone.
 
Our key asks at #COP30:
 
➡️ EWS must be co-created with affected communities, not just inclusive of them.
➡️ Local and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (LITK) holds valuable insights into risks, resilience, and local adaptation.
➡️ Without formal policy recognition, resources, and integration into national and regional systems, LITK’s contributions remain ad hoc rather than systemic.
➡️ Meaningful integration of LITK into EWS design and operation is essential for building systems that are trusted, inclusive, and effective for all.
🌏 As we approach #COP30, there’s a crucial opportunity to ensure that every person on Earth is protected by an effective early warning system.
Our key asks:
➡️ Governments can raise ambition on adaptation by embedding stronger EWS commitments in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
➡️ Integrating and tracking LITK within climate risk information systems under the Global Goal on Adaptation can ensure accountability and transparency.
➡️ National and local governments, regional bodies, and implementing agencies must recognise and resource LITK as a core component of early warning and climate adaptation efforts.
Now is the time to bridge #science and lived experience — and build early warning systems that work for everyone, everywhere.
Read more about our call to prioritise LITK: https://startnetwork.org/learn-change/news-and-blogs/open-letter-members-start-network-cop30-presidency-and-unfccc-parties
Every community deserves the chance to act before disaster strikes.
But too many still face floods, storms, and droughts without timely warnings - a gap that costs lives, livelihoods, and progress.
Investing in multi-hazard early warning systems (EWS) is one of the smartest, most equitable ways to build climate resilience. When communities are informed and prepared, disasters don’t have to become crises.
Read more about Start Network's #COP30 campaign: https://startnetwork.org/learn-change/advocacy/climate-change
“Earlier, we waited until the water reached our doorstep. Now we get informed before the river rises and know what to do.”
Local, Indigenous, and Traditional Knowledge (LITK) is already helping communities like those in Assam, northeast India anticipate and act before disasters strike. These locally led solutions show that effective early warning systems start from the ground up.
As we look ahead to #COP30, governments and global actors have a chance to recognise and embed LITK within national adaptation and early warning frameworks, ensuring systems are not only scientific, but inclusive, trusted, and rooted in local realities.
Read our open letter to UNFCCC parties: https://startnetwork.org/learn-change/news-and-blogs/open-letter-members-start-network-cop30-presidency-and-unfccc-parties
“Warnings without us don’t work for us.”
 
Communities like those in Majuli Island, India are already leading local early warning efforts — protecting their neighbours with systems they trust and own. But for early warning systems (EWS) to work for everyone, we must confront the barriers that keep communities on the margins.
 
At #COP30, governments and global partners can change this by:
 
➡️ Recognising and resourcing community-led systems as part of national adaptation plans.
➡️ Embedding Local and Indigenous Knowledge (LITK) into policy and practice - not as an add-on, but as a foundation.
➡️ Building trust and accountability through genuine co-creation and local leadership.
 
Inclusive, locally led EWS aren’t just more effective - they’re essential for climate justice.