The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved an unprecedented US$103.2 million in grant financing to scale up life-saving early warning systems in seven climate-vulnerable countries.
Led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the five-year project will bolster multi-hazard early warning systems in Antigua and Barbuda, Cambodia, Chad, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, and Somalia, and directly benefit more than 26 million people.
The total budget of $114.6 million includes $11.3 million in co-financing from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and national governments.
It will improve risk assessment, enhance forecasting capabilities, and ensure that critical early warnings reach the most remote and at-risk communities. It is estimated that it will reach 78 million beneficiaries.
Prolonged droughts in Ethiopia and Somalia are driving food and water insecurity, while Fiji and Antigua and Barbuda face intensifying storms and rising sea levels. In Chad, Cambodia, and Ecuador, communities are increasingly exposed to extreme weather and environmental degradation.
In a separate decision, the GCF Board approved its first ever single-country project in Togo, worth US $27 million, under a special fast track procedure drawn up in consultation with the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems Initiative (CREWS).
"Early warning systems are built on strong partnerships. WMO is grateful to the GCF Board and the GCF Secretariat for their support and to our national counterparts, particularly National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), for driving action on the ground," said Daniel Kull, Director of Development Partnerships at WMO.
"With climate change fuelling more frequent and intense hazardous weather events, the need for Early Warning Systems has never been more critical. Now is the time to strengthen collaboration and scale up efforts to deliver Early Warnings for All," he said.
The Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative was launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2022.
"By working with national governments, UNDP, WMO, UNDRR, ITU, IFRC and other partners, we will accelerate and scale up EW4All so that everyone on Earth is protected by an early warning system by 2027. It is not just forecasting disasters-it is empowering people to act, protect livelihoods, and save lives. Through strategic investments in early warning systems, we are turning climate risk into resilience and safeguarding the future of those most affected by the climate crisis," said Henry Gonzalez, GCF Chief Investment Officer .
Country-specific interventions will include upgrading weather observation networks, integrating Indigenous knowledge into early warning systems, strengthening community-based preparedness, improving climate risk communication, and engaging with the private sector (such as the telecommunications industry).
WMO will receive US$ 6.9 million. Of this, US$ 1.5 million will support global activities to strengthen forecasting and warning capacities for extreme weather. The rest will be used for country allocations.
The funding for WMO from GCF will complement ongoing efforts to improve observations through the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF). SOFF is already providing readiness support in all seven countries, and two countries have moved to SOFF Investment phase (Chad, Ethiopia). So far, SOFF has committed US$ 18.1 million in these seven countries and total investment is expected to be more than US$ 40 million in complementary finance to the GCF funding.
Togo
In a separate decision, the GCF Board approved its first-ever single-country project in Togo through the GCF Simplified Approval Process . This process is part of the Scaling up Framework agreed with the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems initiative to fast-track access to GCF finance for countries with ongoing or recently completed CREWS projects.
This milestone project, valued at US$ 27 million, will enhance the country's preparedness for climate change and disaster risks by establishing a fit-for-purpose Climate Information and Early Warning System (CIEWS).
It will directly and indirectly benefit 9.3 million people across Togo and is a major step forward in strengthening climate resilience through a people-centred approach.
Looking ahead, it is expected that more projects will approved under the scaling-up framework by GCF and CREWS initiative, further expanding access to life-saving climate information and early warning systems worldwide.
