Red Cross urges greater investment in disaster preparedness ahead of COP31 climate conference in Türkiye

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Wednesday urged governments to increase funding for climate adaptation and disaster preparedness, warning that worsening extreme weather is putting vulnerable communities at greater risk. Ahead of the UN’s COP31 climate summit in the Turkish city of Antalya, which kicks off next week, the federation stressed that stronger preparedness measures are "increasingly critical" as a more powerful El Nino is expected to intensify weather extremes in the coming months.

Updated analysis undertaken for the IFRC and WWF suggested that nature-based solutions could reduce the severity of climate- and weather-related hazards by around 31%. Such measures could also spare developing economies at least $148 billion in annual losses by 2030, increasing to $577 billion by 2050. "But far too many communities still lack the support they need to prepare for increasingly severe climate risks," said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain.

He called for climate pledges to be translated into practical investments that safeguard lives and livelihoods. The federation cited recent flooding in Nepal, where a head teacher trained in disaster preparedness evacuated 1,600 students minutes before floodwaters destroyed their school. All the children survived, the statement underlined. The IFRC urged governments to strengthen climate-resilient healthcare, direct more adaptation funding to local communities, and expand early warning systems alongside measures enabling people to act before disasters strike.