A coalition of countries and international organizations including the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) launched the Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative, in order to: strengthen support for early warning systems in vulnerable countries; protect and shelter populations exposed to extreme climate events; and mobilize additional financing.
2 December 2015: A coalition of countries and international organizations including the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) launched the Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative, in order to: strengthen support for early warning systems in vulnerable countries; protect and shelter populations exposed to extreme climate events; and mobilize additional financing.
CREWS is one of several large-scale financing initiatives announced as part of over US$1 billion in commitments featured during the ‘Resilience Focus’ at the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA), which is convening during the Paris Climate Change Conference.
CREWS aims to raise more than US$100 million by 2020 and to reach more than one billion people, according to Annick Girardin, France’s Secretary of State for Development. The governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will provide over US$80 million to equip up to 80 countries with better climate risk early warning systems.
Speaking at the launch event, Girardin announced that CREWS will first support the most exposed Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS). According to the WMO, over 80% of LDCs have only a basic early warning system, and only a few of the 40 SIDS have an effective early warning system in place.
Other initiatives announced at the LPAA include: the G7InsuResilience Initiative, which will work with existing regional insurance and risk management pools to provide access to insurance services in the most vulnerable countries; the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI), which will restore the productivity and vitality of the Sahel region by improving resilience to climate change and increasing food security; and the Global Resilience Partnership, which announced additional funding to expand its coverage to build resilience in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. The EU announced €125 million to support emergency actions in countries affected by ‘El Niño’ in Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America, including to address nutrition, water and sanitation and health and shelter. The LPAA also highlighted the UN Secretary-General’s A2R Anticipate Absorb Reshape Initiative.
France initially invited the international community to set up CREWS during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015, in Sendai, Japan. [UNISDR Press Release] [WMO Press Release] [CREWS Initiative Video] [UNFCCC Press Release] [AfDB Press Release on Great Green Wall] [EU Press Release] [Publication: Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems – CREWS Initiative] [CREWS Flyer – in French] [IISD RS Story on AR2 Initiative] [IISD RS Coverage of UNFCCC COP 21]