After the storm: How disasters reshape resilience and trust
This report uses World Risk Poll Resilience Index data from 2021, 2023 and 2025 to examine the effect of disasters on different aspects of resilience.
From alert to agency: What turns warnings into action
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One in three people who receive a disaster warning are unable to act before it strikes. One in five people impacted by a disaster in the past five years received no warning at all.
This report is one of three based on data from the 2026 World Risk Poll Resilience Index. It examines the coverage and effectiveness of disaster early warning systems, analysed against factors that influence this effectiveness. Read alongside the companion report 'A resilient life: How wellbeing shapes the capacity to cope', this allows early warning systems to be assessed on whether they change what people can do to protect themselves.
This data is freely available for governments, researchers and civil society to use for further analysis and practical action to improve resilience and disaster preparedness. The data on early warning systems has also been integrated into the UN Early Warnings for All dashboard.
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Key findings
- Most people impacted by a disaster receive at least one advance warning (80%).
- However, of those who received at least one warning, more than a third (36%) were unable to take any action as a result, meaning more work is needed to improve preparedness.
- The likelihood of receiving advanced warning is still tied to national income, with those in low-income countries often the most impacted by disasters.
- The lowest rates of early warning are seen in Central and Western Africa, the only global region where fewer than half (47%) of those impacted were warned.
- Receiving a warning and being able to act on it are very different things; globally, of those who received a warning, more than a third were unable to take any action, with only half of those in low (48%) and middle (47%) income countries able to act.
- For effective early warnings, repetition across channels is key. Among those who received one disaster warning, 37% were able to act, rising to 51% with two, and 64% with three.
- Warnings work best alongside household and individual preparedness; among those impacted by and warned about a disaster, 83% of those with a plan and agency took action in response, compared to 27% of those who acted with neither.
- Mobile phones are a clear route to reach those still not receiving warnings, of whom 77% own a mobile device.
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World Risk Poll Report 2026 - From alert to agency: What turns warnings into action?
From the fourth edition of the World Risk Poll, this report follows disasters from impact through to response, assessing early warning systems on whether they change what people can do.
Download World Risk Poll Report 2026 - From alert to agency: What turns warnings into action? (PDF, 8.37MB)Citation
If you wish to use and reference the World Risk Poll 2026 Report From alert to agency: What turns warnings into action in your own work, please include the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.60743/yx1k-t541
Example Citation in IEEE Style:
Lloyd's Register Foundation. (2026). World Risk Poll 2026 Report. From alert to agency: What turns warnings into action. Lloyd's Register Foundation. https://doi.org/10.60743/yx1k-t541
World Risk Poll Resilience Index
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