Excellencies,
Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I congratulate the Alliance for Hydromet Development on the launch of the first Hydromet Gap Report.
High-quality hydromet services and early warning systems are fundamental to building climate resilience, a critical priority in the Decade of Action for the SDGs.
The increasingly frequent reports of extreme weather events ¨C heatwaves, hurricanes, floods -- indicate how urgent the need is.
In many cases, it is countries that have contributed least to the accumulated build up of carbon dioxide, and who also have fewer resources to adapt, who have the greatest adaptation challenges.
The Alliance for Hydromet Development is forging the way for better forecasts and early warning systems, improving resource management and disaster preparedness, especially in these countries.
UN DESA is strongly committed to supporting efforts for both mitigation and adaptation.
Later this year, we will be delivering, with our partners, the Secretary-General¡¯s High-Level Dialogue on Energy on 20 September in New York, and the Second Global Sustainable Transport Conference on 14-16 October in Beijing.
We are optimistic that both events will help accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality.
Our annual conference series, organized jointly with UNFCCC, on climate-SDG synergies provides practical guidance on the joined-up implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris agreement.
Our support for inter-agency collaborations including UN-Energy, UN-Water, UN-Ocean, Collaborative Partnership on Forests and the UN Inter-Agency Task Team on STI for the SDGs serve to coordinate efforts and magnify the impacts of various partners.
The Alliance for Hydromet Development fills a critical gap in the preparedness architecture for weather, hydrological, and other environmental events.
UN DESA looks forward to future collaboration with the Alliance.
I commend the Alliance¡¯s efforts, and I look forward to its continued impact on meeting vital capacity needs in developing countries.
Thank you.