‘Locally led by default, invest ahead of crisis, address root causes’: These are the three essential ingredients to help people withstand a new era of record-setting climate and weather emergencies, according to IFRC at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.
By all accounts, recent years have been record setters. The month of May 2025 was the hottest on record in several parts of the globe, while heatwaves in 2024 sets records for duration and temperatures.
Meanwhile, people around the world have been hit with an unprecedented string of climate-related emergencies.
In 2024, for example, the Philippines experienced six typhoons in under a month, an unprecedented pattern of extreme weather that left communities with no time to recover between storms.
Meanwhile, Europe and Central Asia experienced a wave of flooding in 2024 that added new layers of complexity for communities already coping with displacement caused by conflict, an increase in communicable diseases, heat waves and economic challenges.
The same is true at the global level. In 2023 alone, disasters triggered 26.4 million internal displacements – many of them in already fragile or conflict-affected contexts. These are just a few reasons why reducing risk before disasters strike is critical and urgent.
“That is why climate is the number-one priority for the IFRC – it is the ultimate risk multiplier because it exacerbates existing vulnerabilities,” said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the IFRC.
“However, we also know disasters don’t need to be deadly if communities are supported to act in a way that helps people get ahead of disasters, and prevents devastating loss and damage, through anticipation, preparedness and adaptation rather than waiting for humanitarian consequences to hit.”
As organizations from around the world gather in Geneva, Switzerland for the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction this week, the IFRC brings these realities to the table through a call to action for far greater engagement and support for locally led disaster risk reduction, anticipation and preparedness efforts at the community level.
“This event is about action — action which makes a real difference in the lives of people, with people and communities in the driving seat,” Chapagain added. “Action which gets climate finance and critical support to people and communities who need it the most and fostering new partnerships and approaches to meet the scale of the challenge.”
From managing disasters to managing risks
While there has been considerable progress in this direction in recent years, there is still a ways to go. As of December 2024, a total of 131 countries report having national disaster risk reduction strategies in place (roughly 64 per cent of the world’s countries) while only 109 (just more than half) reported having local disaster risk reduction strategies.
And consider these sobering statistics:
- As of 2024, around one-third of the global population was still not covered by early warning systems.
- Of the 32 countries classified as highly or very highly vulnerable, 27 were also considered fragile or extremely fragile – yet they received less than US$1 per person in disaster risk reduction funding or financing for climate adaptation.
- The vast majority of disaster funding goes entirely for post disaster response and recovery. Only 3.1 per cent of finance for crises is arranged in advance (2018-2022).
- Less than 10 per cent of the funds available through global climate-change financing mechanism for climate adaptation reaches the local level.
At a time when international emergency response budgets are tightening even further, the IFRC argues that investment in anticipatory action is particularly critical. Studies of humanitarian aid have found that every US$1 invested in anticipatory action can save up to around US$7 in post-disaster recovery.
These investments not only reduce long-term humanitarian costs, they help communities thrive in the face of escalating climate and disaster risks. After all, many communities are already struggling to recover from floods, wildfires or earthquakes, and at the same time they must also be thinking about — and getting ready for — whatever comes next.
Often those who are caught in the cycle of emergencies are those who can least afford even one life-shattering catastrophe. For context: an estimated 44 per cent of the global population remain poor by a standard of $6.85/day, and many live in urban areas highly exposed to climate and environmental shock.
“The challenge for us all is to strengthen and replicate local solutions, embed risk reduction into humanitarian, development and climate plans and strengthen resilience in an integrated way across sectors and systems,” said Blessed Michael Mbang, IFRC Senior Officer for Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction, who is coordinating IFRC’s engagement at the GPDRR. “This is how we shift from managing disasters to managing risks – and from reactive response to lasting resilience.”
These are some of the reasons the IFRC call to action highlights three key messages.
• Make locally led action the default
Trust, fund and empower local actors. Resilience starts with the people closest to the risks – support them to drive solutions that last.
• Invest ahead of disasters
Shift from reaction to anticipation. Prioritize funding that prevents and reduces climate and disaster impacts before it unfolds to become disasters and builds long-term resilience – it is cost effective, saves lives and livelihoods and expands people’s options.
• Break the cycle – put the root causes of risk at the centre of action
For transformative action, we must address risk drivers and enhance long term resilience to save and improve lives and livelihoods.
nvesting in local disaster risk reduction takes many forms. It includes strengthening community early warning systems, local preparedness and response capacities, partnerships and collaboration across national and community structures – ensuring that marginalized and at-risk groups are meaningfully included and protected.
To learn more about what these investments should look like, see the IFRC’s Call to Action for the 2025 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and visit the following links:
How IFRC’s anticipatory action work is transforming disaster preparedness around the world.
IFRC and Early Warnings for All