UK steps up support for global efforts to prepare for El Niño following devastating extreme weather
Hundreds of thousands of people around the world will be helped to prepare for extreme weather conditions next year.
- UK funding will support hundreds of thousands around the world to prepare for droughts, floods and food shortages before they escalate into humanitarian emergencies.
- Announcement follows devastating extreme weather this year, and will mitigate global impact by helping vulnerable communities protect livestock, reinforce homes and provide support to farmers before disaster hits.
- Comes ahead of UK Minister for Development speech setting out values-led modern approach to international development.
Hundreds of thousands of people around the world will be helped to prepare for extreme weather conditions next year, as the UK steps up support for countries most at risk from El Niño.
Up to £15 million is being made available through the Humanitarian Crisis Fund to support anticipatory action in countries most at risk from El Niño. Depending on the season, this includes drought-prone parts of southern Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, as well as flood-affected regions of East Africa and South America.
UK funding will support practical and proven interventions that help communities prepare for extreme weather. These include vaccinating livestock before drought conditions take hold, reinforcing homes ahead of flooding, and providing cash support to farming families so they can buy essential supplies and protect their livelihoods.
The impacts of extreme weather are felt everywhere, threatening lives, damaging harvests and disrupting food supplies, in the UK and around the world. As scientists warn a strengthening El Niño could trigger even more severe conditions in the coming months, the UK is acting now to help communities prepare before the worst impacts are felt.
Kirsty McNeill, Minister for Development, said:
The climate crisis isn’t something that’s round the corner – it’s already here and people need our help right now.
The lesson of recent years is simple: climate shocks do not stop at national borders, whether that means extreme weather, pressure on food supplies or rising costs for families, shocks can affect all of us, wherever we live.
That is why acting early matters, helping people in vulnerable communities prepare before disaster strikes so we can save lives and reduce suffering.
It makes financial sense too - acting now to prepare costs less than picking up the pieces afterwards.
Using the best science, forecasting and international partnerships to get ahead of risks before they become crises is a smarter approach to resilience and security.
The announcement comes as the Minister for Development sets out her vision for a modern approach to development in a speech at the New Economics Foundation.
In the speech, she will argue that the biggest global challenges demand a new focus on “mutual interest and shared resilience”. She will make the case that health security, climate security, economic security, human security, and food security affect us all, and that “the global problems we face today are not ones that any one country can deal with alone”.
Around 35% of humanitarian shocks can be predicted in advance, yet less than 1% of global humanitarian funding is currently allocated to anticipatory action. The UK is a global leader in anticipatory action, working with partners to use early warning systems and pre-arranged finance to reduce suffering before it escalates and leading global efforts to scale-up early action before crises hit.
Taking action early helps protect lives, reduce suffering and lower the long-term costs of responding to crises after they have escalated. Evidence consistently shows that acting early delivers better outcomes and better value than waiting until disaster has already caused widespread damage. Studies have shown proactive drought responses in the Horn of Africa could have prevented an estimated $2.5 billion in lost incomes and assets.
Just as families insure their homes or businesses plan for a downturn, early action is helping to reduce costs and save lives by acting before a crisis takes hold, rather than paying a much higher price afterwards.
Alongside efforts to tackle the global impact of extreme weather, the government is taking immediate action to build resilience at home. This includes investing £1.4 billion in flood defences this year as part of the largest flood defence programme in English history, building nine new reservoirs, and announcing a £65 million support package to help British farmers impacted by drought.
Lisa Doughten, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said:
In a world of increasing climate and humanitarian risks, we need to move from reacting to getting ahead of them. Anticipatory action based on credible forecasts save lives, reduces suffering and makes every humanitarian dollar go further. Partnerships and investments like this are essential to building a faster, more cost-effective humanitarian system that puts vulnerable communities at the centre.
Aditya Bahadur, Director of Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said:
As we approach the breach of the landmark 1.5C temperature threshold, we are set for a future with more frequent and intense, unprecedented events. Every tool in our toolbox needs to be deployed to manage the immense risk that confronts our most vulnerable communities.
‘Anticipatory action’ has proven immensely effective in preventing or reducing impacts on lives and livelihoods. From enhancing food security and reducing loss of livestock to preventing death and safeguarding assets - anticipatory action has consistently proven to be an impactful investment.
Christina Bennett CEO, START Network said:
When we know a drought is coming, we must not wait for families to lose their crops and incomes before we act. For communities now facing the impacts of El Niño, a small investment made early can make the difference between coping and crisis.
Through Start Network’s work, we’ve seen that when support reaches people before a drought takes hold, families are better able to protect their harvests, keep their livestock healthy and put food on the table. Acting early helps people weather hard times with dignity, while reducing the human and financial cost of disaster.
Professor Liz Stephens, University of Reading, said:
El Niño loads the dice for extreme weather in many regions of the world, and advances in weather and climate prediction mean that El Niño events can be forecast many months in advance. This gives us a lengthy window of opportunity for anticipatory action to support communities to prepare and protect themselves, rather than waiting until disaster strikes and costly emergency assistance is needed.
Daniel Clarke, Executive Director, Centre for Disaster Protection, said:
Anticipatory action is one of the best-evidenced tools in disaster financing. In Bangladesh, families given cash five days before a flood hit were 62% less likely to go hungry, because they had time to prepare, not scramble to recover after the destruction. Scaling up anticipatory action effectively needs more than money: countries in the lead, backed by donors and investors who are ready to fund it for the long term, not just step in when disaster strikes.
BACKGROUND
- El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern that typically occurs every two to seven years. What makes it different this year, which is forecast to be the largest El Niño in living memory, is the high levels of heat in the ocean which, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), could significantly shift rainfall and temperature patterns worldwide, fuelling extreme weather.
- The UK is bringing together science, humanitarian expertise and innovative finance to help countries prepare for El Niño before disaster strikes. This new support for anticipatory action, which will be allocated from the Humanitarian Crisis Fund, is one part of a broader UK response.
- This includes the new FCDO-Met Office partnership to expand access to AI-powered weather forecasting and early warning systems. By combining cutting-edge technology with UK scientific expertise, the partnership will help countries better predict, prepare for and respond to extreme weather events.
- The UK is working closely with global financial institutions to push for an earlier, better coordinated response and deployment of emergency finance for countries at greatest risk. By investing in early warning systems and pre-arranged financing, we are able to better monitor and respond to the emerging climate and food security risks before they turn into crises.
- The UK is supporting governments in priority countries to protect food production, livelihoods and markets before crises escalate. This includes shaping the World Bank’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Toolkit, launched in early 2024, which enables countries to access pre-arranged financing and repurpose unused project funds when a shock hits.
- The UK is working through the Multilateral Development Banks and UN humanitarian system to inform the wider disaster risk finance and insurance agenda to ensure vulnerable countries and communities have the finance and tools they need to reduce the impact of climate-related shocks.
- The UK-led Sevilla Platform for Action on Pre-arranged Finance aims to increase the proportion of pre-arranged finance within crisis finance from 2% towards 20% by 2035, helping move the international system from reacting to crises towards anticipating and preventing them.
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