The work of the Expert Group on slow onset events (SOEs) focuses on strategic workstream (a) of the current five-year rolling workplan of the WIM ExCom, which aims to enhance cooperation and facilitation in relation to slow onset events, by both strengthening the understanding of slow onset events, as well as enhancing the capacity to address them, in particular at regional and national levels.

Slow onset events include increasing temperature, desertification, loss of biodiversity, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, sea level rise, ocean acidification, and salinization. The work of the Expert Group on SOEs focuses on both the risks and impacts of slow onset events.

The terms of reference for the Expert Group on Slow Onset Events (SOEs) were adopted at ExCom12 in 2020, and the group was launched later in the same year. It currently comprises 11 members, including 4 ExCom members serving as facilitators of the expert group.