The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved a historic $103.2 million in grant financing to expand life-saving early warning systems in seven climate-vulnerable countries. This initiative, spearheaded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will enhance multi-hazard early warning systems in Antigua and Barbuda, Cambodia, Chad, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, and Somalia, benefiting more than 78 million people directly.
With a total budget of $114.6 million, the project will be implemented in partnership with national governments, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), among others. These collaborative efforts will strengthen Early Warnings for All (EW4All), ensuring that key climate information reaches even the most remote and vulnerable communities.
The initiative will improve risk assessments, enhance forecasting capabilities, and create better mechanisms for disseminating early warnings. This is particularly crucial as climate change continues to fuel more frequent and extreme weather events. Countries involved in the project face a range of climate threats, including prolonged droughts in Ethiopia and Somalia, rising sea levels and intensified storms in Fiji and Antigua and Barbuda, and environmental degradation in Chad, Cambodia, and Ecuador.
Additionally, the GCF Board approved its first-ever single-country project for Togo, valued at $27 million. This funding, approved under a special fast-track procedure, was developed in collaboration with the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems Initiative (CREWS). The investment reflects a growing recognition of the urgent need to strengthen early warning systems globally.
Daniel Kull, Director of Development Partnerships at WMO, emphasized the importance of collaboration in making early warning systems more effective. He highlighted that strong partnerships with national meteorological and hydrological services are key to driving action at the local level. He also stressed that with climate change accelerating the frequency and intensity of hazardous weather events, there is an urgent need to scale up these efforts.
The EW4All initiative was originally launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2022 with the goal of ensuring that every person on Earth is protected by an early warning system by 2027. The latest funding boost will accelerate progress toward this ambitious target. Beyond just predicting disasters, these systems will empower communities with the knowledge and tools to take action, protect livelihoods, and ultimately save lives.
Henry Gonzalez, GCF Chief Investment Officer, emphasized that by working with key partners, including national governments and international organizations, the initiative will not only forecast disasters but also build resilience among vulnerable populations. He stressed the importance of strategic investments in early warning systems to transform climate risk into long-term resilience.
Each country involved in the project will receive support tailored to its specific needs. This includes upgrading weather observation networks, incorporating Indigenous knowledge into early warning systems, improving community-based preparedness, enhancing climate risk communication, and engaging the private sector, particularly the telecommunications industry, to ensure warnings reach as many people as possible.
The WMO has been allocated $6.9 million from the GCF funding, with $1.5 million dedicated to strengthening global forecasting and warning capacities for extreme weather. The remaining funds will support country-specific interventions.
Furthermore, the GCF funding complements ongoing efforts to improve climate observation through the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF). This initiative has already provided readiness support in all seven participating countries, with Chad and Ethiopia moving into the investment phase. SOFF has committed $18.1 million to these nations, and total investments in early warning infrastructure are expected to exceed $40 million when combined with GCF funding.
As climate-related disasters become more frequent and severe, the expansion of early warning systems is an essential step in protecting lives and building climate resilience. This latest investment represents a significant milestone in the global effort to ensure that no community is left without the crucial information needed to prepare for and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events.
