Climate extremes highlight the urgent need for coordinated responses to flood and drought management.
Photo: © Phillip Flores, Unsplash
IWMI and WMO: Improving climate-resilient water management
Climate extremes such as Cyclone Ditwah, the floods in Pakistan and severe drought in Africa highlight the urgent need for coordinated responses to flood and drought management. In many vulnerable regions, existing infrastructure remains ill-equipped to withstand climate shocks.
To strengthen global cooperation on early warning systems and climate-resilient water management in vulnerable regions of Africa and Asia, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in January 2026.
Helping countries be better prepared
The MoU was signed by Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO, and Mark Smith, Director-General of the IWMI, and is set to run for five years.
“With increasing extreme weather, water and climate-related events world-wide, the collaboration with IWMI is important to help countries be more prepared, especially through advancing the Early Warnings for All initiative. This MoU will promote strategic partnership and collaboration on emerging technologies and tools and services,” said Saulo.
Five key areas to strengthen resilience
WMO and IWMI will collaborate across five key areas to strengthen global climate and water resilience:
- advancing climate and water data integration for disaster risk reduction
- integrating socio-economic research into climate services
- scaling emerging technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for early warning systems
- strengthening national capacities through joint projects, training and policy support
- mobilising climate finance to deliver investment-ready, locally relevant solutions for climate adaptation and disaster risk management
“Through this MoU, IWMI will work closely with the World Meteorological Organization to strengthen preparedness for floods, droughts and water scarcity by leveraging early warning systems, innovative technologies, tools and applied research,” added Smith.
(ile/IWMI)
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