Climate Information and Services are Helping Vulnerable Countries Adapt to Climate Change

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been providing climate information and early warning systems to vulnerable people living in the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change.

Their website reported that they had reached 10 million people in the past 12 years.

These climate information and early warning systems are effective climate adaptation strategies because they help farmers produce and market and build resilience against floods, droughts and extreme weather events.  

These ultimately benefit the lives and livelihoods of these vulnerable people and contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The UNDP climate information and early warning system program started in 2002 and is supported by the Green Climate Funded, Adaptation Fund, and Global Environment Facility.  

The program installed more than 800 automated weather stations and 245 early-wanting systems and trained more than 3600 technicians and officials on climate data generation, modelling, and interpretation in 50 countries composed of 33 least developed countries and 11 small island developing states.

The website contains several case studies on how climate information and early warning systems have impacted the lives and livelihood of their residents.

For example, people in Malawi are vulnerable to floods and highly dependent on lake fishing for their livelihood.

Climate information and early warning systems in the form of lightning detection systems and weather-monitoring lake buoys enable them to

• save their fishing equipment, properties and infrastructure;
• save lives by allowing them to find a safe shelter during storms or floods and
• prevent their fishermen from going to the lake during unfavourable and dangerous weather conditions.

In Uganda, 80 per cent of the population depends on rain-fed agriculture. Climate change makes it harder to predict weather patterns and, as a result, places the livelihoods of Uganda farmers at risk.

Weather monitoring systems help farmers with their farming practices and trading by providing up-to-date weather information and improved crop forecasts.

Sierra Leone’s three days of nonstop rain in August 2017 triggered a mudslide that killed 500 people and displaced over 4,000 residents. In addition to erratic climatic events in recent years, the country has experienced droughts, sea-level rise, and increased humidity, making it one of the most vulnerable countries in Africa.

Through the UNDP-supported climate informant and early warning systems project, they have installed eight Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), which provide real-time climate data and allow meteorologists to create short—to medium-term and long-term forecasts. Government and the public can use this information for disaster management, to help farmers, to protect businesses, and to protect recent development gains.

The website provides more case studies on the usefulness and efficiency of climate information and early warning systems on the lives and livelihoods of those most vulnerable to climate change.

It allows them to make informed decisions and adapt to climate change, reducing their vulnerability and building resilience against climate extremes.