SOFF at COP29: Increased funding and showcasing speedy delivery
- New systematic observation partnership with the Global South is growing fast
- Denmark, Finland and Norway announced additional contributions to the SOFF UN fund. SOFF now capitalized with more than USD 100 million from 12 pioneer funders
- SOFF Action Report 2024 launched, showcasing speed and scale of SOFF operations. 60 countries supported and 18 countries with investments approved to close basic weather and climate data gaps
The Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) has rapidly become an important vehicle to improve the foundational data that underpin all weather forecasting and climate prediction. SOFF provides long-term grant financing for essential basic weather and climate observations that are a critical but invisible ingredient for effective climate action, including the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All initiative.
On the ” Finance, Investment and Trade Day” of the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), Spain hosted the SOFF event on “sustained climate finance for systematic observation”.
The Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) is a new UN climate fund – co-created by WMO, UNDP and UNEP – that supports countries in closing today’s significant weather and climate data gaps in an innovative manner, at speed and scale.
Prof Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization and co-chair of the SOFF Steering Committee, opened the event and emphasized, “The climate crisis is THE defining challenge that humanity faces. Climate Action is hampered by a lack of basic observations and capacity to deliver useful climate services. SOFF is ingeniously supporting countries to address that.” Her fellow co-chair, Dr Sinead Walsh, Climate Director in Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, highlighted, “Basic observations are critical for climate adaptation, early warning systems and resilient development. We have already mobilized 12 initial funders, both bilateral and multilateral and will keep going.”
Basic systematic observation data as a global public good
Prof Michael Kremer, 2019 Nobel laureate, highlighted the importance of basic weather and climate data for many sectors, including agriculture. He said, “The generation and dissemination of high-quality weather forecasts is a cost-effective approach that could help hundreds of millions of farmers in low- and middle-income countries adopt to climate change.” He added, “Weather data from each country contributes to the accuracy of weather prediction models everywhere, so collection and dissemination of weather data is a genuine global public good. By addressing gaps in the global basic observing network through SOFF, we strengthen the predictive capacity of global and regional forecasting systems.”
Prof Kremer is the Chair of the Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture. He is also the advisory panel chair of the AIM for Scale initiative that launched the Innovation Weather Package at COP29, designed to empower the generation and dissemination of weather forecasts to hundreds of millions of farmers for the benefit of farmers affected by climate change. SOFF is a partner to this initiative.
Dr Florence Rabier, Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), an important SOFF partner, added “Although SOFF supports mainly Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, the reality is that all countries are set to benefit from good weather forecasts, which really makes investments in this initiative even more economically attractive.”
Stepped-up support by SOFF initial funders
SOFF has been able to speedily take off thanks to the support of 12 initial funders that pioneered a new partnership on systematic observation with the Global South. Many of these funders have already made repeated contributions to the SOFF UN fund.
At the SOFF COP29 event, Denmark, Finland and Norway announced additional pledges. SOFF is now capitalized with more than 100 million US Dollar, mobilized over the past 2.5 years. Yet, for SOFF to achieve its financial targets and respond to high country demand, additional resources are needed.
Minister Toeolesulusulu Cedric Pose Salesa Schuster, Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Lands, Samoa and chair of Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) emphasized the importance of SOFF. With already 39 Small Island Developing States benefitting from initial SOFF support, he called on the international community to provide more funding to SOFF so that countries can take full advantage of SOFF. This call was echoed by Deputy Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability Ana Pimentel, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Dominican Republic, who emphasized that climate finance must be additional, predictable and focused. She further called upon simplified access to climate finance. SOFF is a fund that responds to this call.
Funding needs to catch up with the pace of operations
A total of 101 countries have requested support from SOFF, highlighting the commitment of the Global South to deliver its share to the Global Basic Observing Network. As showcased by the SOFF Action Report 2024, published at the SOFF COP29 event, 60 countries are already receiving initial SOFF support while 18 countries have already approved investment funding, totaling to USD 115 million. Upon closing their basic observation gaps these 18 countries are expected to share 20 times the amount of weather data compared to levels before SOFF support.
About
Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF)
SOFF is a UN specialized fund co-created by WMO, UNDP and UNEP to close the climate and weather observations data gap in countries with the most severe shortfalls in observations, prioritizing Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). SOFF provides long term financial and technical assistance to support the acquisition and international sharing of basic weather and climate observations, according to the internationally agreed Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) regulations. SOFF is a foundational element and delivery vehicle of the UN Early Warnings for All Initiative.
Global Basic Observing Network (GBON)
GBON paves the way for a radical overhaul of the international exchange of observational data, which underpins all weather, climate and water services and products. GBON sets the requirements for the acquisition and exchange of basic surface-based observing network designed, defined and monitored at the global level. GBON improves the availability of the most essential surface-based data, which will have a direct positive impact on the quality of weather forecasts, thus helping improve the safety and well-being of citizens throughout the world. Achieving GBON compliance is mandatory from 2023, yet many countries from the Global South are falling behind.
Early Warnings for All initiative
The initiative was launched by the UN Secretary-General in November 2022 at the COP27. It is a groundbreaking initiative to ensure that everyone on Earth is protected from hazardous weather, water, or climate events through life-saving early warning systems by. SOFF is a delivery vehicle of this initiative.