Innovative radiocommunication technologies are key to protecting everyone on Earth and in space with timely, life-saving disaster alerts.
That is the mission of Early Warnings for All – an initiative by the United Nations Secretary-General in response to increased hazards and the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters as the realities of climate change take hold.
By integrating advanced tools such as satellite technology and expanding access to data-driven solutions, we are enhancing the accuracy and effectiveness of early warning systems. These advances help communities mitigate risks, protect lives, and build resilience.
Earth-observation satellites have become critical to understanding our planet and addressing humanity’s most pressing challenges. Satellites have transformed how early warnings are delivered, enabling countries around the world to progress from basic weather forecasts to actionable and reliable information that communities can trust.
World Meteorological Day – promoted annually by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – is dedicated this year to building and operating effective and inclusive multi-hazard early warning systems.
As climate change threatens more lives and livelihoods, early warning systems have become a crucial component of disaster risk reduction. Those systems detect, analyse, and communicate impending hazards such as tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and wildfires. Their timely alerts save lives.
Even so, with digital communications expanding worldwide, interference between radio sources can affect data quality. Without spectrum management by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), harmful radio interference would compromise the accuracy of digital information and analysis, with implications for economic security and public safety.
Satellite and terrestrial networks save lives
ITU – the United Nations agency for digital technologies – is enabling the establishment of early warning systems through satellite and terrestrial radiocommunication services, ensuring that timely and reliable information reaches communities at risk. ITU facilitates global coordination on radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits – and safeguards the frequencies needed to gather environmental and climate data.
World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRCs) have responded to the recent demands to promote sustainability, combat climate change, and strengthen emergency communications.
Alongside satellites, terrestrial radiocommunication services play a vital role in delivering early warnings directly to affected populations. Broadcasting and mobile networks, coordinated through ITU, deliver emergency alerts via radio, television, and mobile devices. Thanks to ITU standards and regulatory frameworks, high frequency (HF) and very high frequency (VHF) emergency radio networks keep operating during disasters when traditional infrastructure is compromised.
Together, ITU’s Radiocommunication, Standardization and Development sectors make disaster alerts possible, effective, and increasingly accessible to all.
Notably, ITU:
- Establishes international radiocommunication regulations to ensure spectrum availability for emergency communications.
- Works with governments and industry to implement standardized alerting protocols like the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), which allows warnings to be disseminated across multiple communication platforms.
- Provides technical assistance to developing countries to improve their early warning infrastructure, ensuring that even regions with the least resources can benefit from disaster-preparedness technologies.
All of us at ITU, in collaboration with our diverse membership, promote innovative technologies in all spheres of disaster management.
Partnerships for response and resilience
ITU works closely with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and regional telecommunications organizations to enhance global disaster preparedness.
Through those partnerships, we have integrated different hazards into a single alerting mechanism. We also work with national regulators and telecom operators to establish public-private partnerships, ensuring robust and sustainable early warning infrastructure.
ITU’s Emergency Telecommunications Programme helps small island developing states and other vulnerable countries deploy resilient telecommunication networks for disaster response.
The future of early warning systems
As technology evolves, ITU continues exploring innovative ways to enhance early warnings, manage increasingly complex spectrum usage, and further strengthen Earth observation and meteorology.
With our next ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27) coming up the year after next, we continue our joint series of seminars and regional workshops with WMO on “Earth observations for Sustainable Development Goals.”
Everyone must work together to protect the radio spectrum for meteorology-related services, and I heartily encourage national meteorological and hydrological services to take part in spectrum-management activities at both the national and international level.
Together, through innovation, coordination, and cooperation, we can ensure that early warnings reach everyone, everywhere — saving lives and strengthening resilience in an ever-changing world!
Source: https://www.itu.int/hub/2025/03/radiocommunication-services-help-close-the-early-warning-gap/