UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged countries to invest in universal early warning systems, which he called proven lifesavers during extreme weather events.

The world is not investing in protecting the lives and livelihoods of those on the front lines, Guterres said in a speech marking International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Noting that half of humanity now lives in a danger zone, Guterres said that whole populations are in dire straits because of cascading climate disasters without any means of advance warning. He explained that such systems could prevent extreme weather events from turning into deadly disasters.

But the U.N. interim report warns that half of the world's countries are not protected by multi-hazard warning systems and conditions for developing countries on the front lines of climate change are worse.