A major workshop in the Caribbean has identified opportunities to leverage regional collaboration to close weather and climate data gaps and build resilience to extreme events such as tropical cyclones. 

The Caribbean Regional Workshop was co-hosted by Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Climate Risk & Early Warning Systems initiative (CREWS). It took place from 5-7 May 2025 in Kingston, Jamaica.  

Extreme weather and climate events in the Caribbean increased by 85% between 2001 and 2020, costing an annual average of 2.13% of regional GDP, according to a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Inter-American Development Bank. Hurricane Beryl - the earliest category 5 hurricane on record - caused widespread devastation in the Caribbean in 2024 and is an example of the risks faced by communities in low-lying states.

Caribbean countries are therefore priority targets for the Early Warnings for All initiative, which seems to ensure that everyone is protected by early warning systems by the end of 2027. In order to achieve this, investments and action across the entire value chain are necessary.  

From increased weather and climate data supported by SOFF, to early warning systems initiatives supported by CREWS and ensuring impact across sectors on the ground through IDB and other implementing partners, each step is critical to ensure enhanced resilience for lives and livelihoods.

“Data is essential for predicting and responding to weather and climate events. This data gap doesn't just affect local forecasts. It impacts our global ability to forecast and therefore respond to climate challenges,” said WMO Celeste Saulo. “Switzerland alone, where WMO is based, has more reporting surface stations than the entire Caribbean region combined,” she said in an opening video message to the workshop.

Evan Thompson, Principal Director of the Jamaica’s Meteorological Service President of WMO’s Regional Association for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, said the workshop would be “create leverage with regional partners and other climate investments, and joining forces for climate change adaptation in the Caribbean.”

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