Discussion on the enhancement of Typhoon Committee activities for UN EW4All initiative

Abstract

The ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee is an intergovernmental regional organization dealing with typhoon (tropical cyclones) related disasters. Millions of people around the Asia-Pacific region remain exposed to a higher frequency and intensity of natural hazards. For more developed countries, tropical cyclone related impacts cause major social and economic disruptions through loss of lives and property. With recognizing the importance of aligning its efforts with UN Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative which aims to strengthen early warning systems globally, Typhoon Committee resolved to initiate the monitoring of ongoing or past efforts by TC Members in contributing to the four key pillars of the EW4all initiative aiming to (1) evaluate the Committee's contributions to EW4All; and (2) identify the opportunities for enhancing performance through Member Reports and the WGs’ AOP specification. TC had its 18th IWS/4th TRCG forum with a theme of “Early Warnings for All Through Enhancement of Typhoon Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)” and “Towards a Typhoon Resilient Society”; TC Secretary (TCS) initiated a reviewing and monitoring on the ongoing or previous efforts of TC Members, through analyzing the AOPs’ implementation of TC WGs, in contributing to the pillars of the EW4All initiative with the objective of enabling an evaluation of the Committee's contributions to EW4All and identify opportunities for further enhancing its performance. This paper intends to discuss the directions on how to further enhance TC activities aligning with and contribution to EW4All in future.