A long-idle irrigation scheme in Umzingwane District, Matabeleland South, is set to resume production in August after Government and development partners completed 87 percent of a major rehabilitation programme aimed at strengthening food security and improving livelihoods in the drought-prone province.
The 45-hectare Mzinyathini Irrigation Scheme, established in 1956, had remained idle for the past six months due to water shortages. It is now being transformed into a climate-smart irrigation facility equipped with modern water-efficient technologies, including drip irrigation, centre pivots and sprinkler systems, while five solar-powered boreholes have been drilled to enhance water supply.
The rehabilitation project is being implemented under the Building Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Agricultural Livelihoods in Southern Africa programme, spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development in partnership with the Green Climate Fund and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
As Pacific Island Countries confront accelerating climate impacts, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved four new climate adaptation projects through its Trust Fund, Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). The approvals will enable UNDP and the governments of Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Tuvalu and Vanuatu to develop initiatives that will help communities, critical infrastructure and ecosystems withstand flooding, sea-level rise, coastal erosion and other climate threats.
Together, the four projects represent approximately US$14 million in GEF grant financing, alongside more than $43 million in expected co-financing. The approvals enable the next stage of project development, providing the resources needed to prepare detailed technical studies, stakeholder consultations and project design before the proposals are submitted to the GEF for final approval.
Under a project funded by the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) has received five vehicles to strengthen weather monitoring and early warning services. The support is expected to enhance data collection from monitoring and observation stations across the country, improving the agency’s ability to provide timely weather information to the public.
Speaking during the handover ceremony in Dar es Salaamy, UNDP Resident Representative in Tanzania, Mr Shigeki Komatsubara, said the investment reflects Tanzania’s commitment to ensuring it has the data and services needed to build resilience against climate change and weather-related hazards.
A seven-year climate adaptation project has strengthened the resilience of more than 7 lakh people in Bangladesh’s southwest coastal region by improving access to safe drinking water, promoting women-led climate-resilient livelihoods and enhancing institutional capacity to address climate risks.
As the Gender-responsive Coastal Adaptation (GCA) Project draws to a close, government officials, development partners and community representatives have called for the initiative’s successful approaches to be sustained and replicated in other climate-vulnerable coastal areas. The call was made at the project’s “Learning Sharing and Closing Workshop” in Dhaka, where participants reviewed its achievements, lessons and pathways for sustaining the results beyond the project period.
A groundbreaking climate resilience project is rewriting the story of survival in southern Zimbabwe, turning struggling farming communities into climate-smart agricultural hubs with guaranteed markets, modern irrigation and growing bank balances.
The Climate Resilient Livelihoods (CRL) project, being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the government of Zimbabwe and the Green Climate Fund, has unveiled a sweeping March-April 2026 progress report that showcases dramatic gains in food security, financial inclusion and market access.
A delegation from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) visited Odisha’s Ganjam district to assess the progress of the Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal Communities (ECRICC) project, which is promoting ecosystem restoration, climate-resilient livelihoods and community-led adaptation across vulnerable coastal regions.
Odisha’s coastline faces growing threats from cyclones, tidal surges, coastal erosion and flooding, making climate adaptation an urgent priority. The ECRICC project is strengthening resilience in coastal communities across Ganjam, Puri, Kendrapara and Balasore.
Cambodia has launched a new project to strengthen early warning systems and disaster preparedness in four provinces, helping communities better anticipate and respond to climate- and weather-related hazards.
The Advancing Early Warning for All project will be implemented in Ratanakiri, Kratie, Stung Treng and Banteay Meanchey provinces from 2026 to 2030. Led by the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MoWRAM), in partnership with UNDP and with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the project will address gaps in disaster preparedness that disproportionately affect rural communities and vulnerable groups. The initiative will support the implementation of Cambodia's National EW4ALL Roadmap 2025 by strengthening early warning systems for hazards including droughts, floods, storms and lightning.
Cambodia is one of seven countries participating in the global Advancing Early Warning for All initiative, which supports the UN Secretary-General's call to ensure universal access to effective early warning systems by 2027. The other participating countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Chad, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji and Somalia.
Rwanda has taken another major step in advancing its climate and meteorological capabilities with the official inauguration of its first Automatic Upper-Air Observation Station in Huye District, Southern Province. The facility - installed with the support of the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Rwanda), and the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) - represents a strategic investment in science-based climate monitoring, positioning the country to significantly improve weather forecasting accuracy, disaster preparedness, and long-term environmental planning.
The upper-air station is designed to continuously measure atmospheric conditions, capturing detailed data on temperature, humidity, air pressure, and wind patterns extending up to 30 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. This high-altitude profiling allows meteorologists to understand better the structure and movement of weather systems, especially in Rwanda’s complex topography, where sudden weather changes can have direct impacts on communities and infrastructure.
On June 3, Cambodia launched the "Advancing Early Warning for All" project to strengthen early warning systems and help communities better prepare for climate- and weather-related disasters, according to a joint press release. The press release said the Southeast Asian country ranks among the world's most climate-risk-prone countries, placing 12th globally. Without stronger resilience and adaptation measures, climate change could reduce national GDP by up to 10 percent by 2050.
The five-year project (2026-2030) will support Cambodia in strengthening an end-to-end, multi-hazard early warning system for storms, floods, droughts, and lightning events. The project will be implemented across four high-risk provinces, namely Ratanakiri, Kratie, Stung Treng, and Banteay Meanchey.
At Laerskool Kempton Park school, on the edge of Johannesburg, students are discovering a new way to grow food. Through aquaponics, an ancient technique that raises fish and plants in a shared water system, they are gaining practical agricultural skills while helping strengthen local food security. Supported through the UNDP-Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator, INMED South Africa has trained hundreds of teachers and more than 7,000 students, bringing climate-smart food production into schools across the country.
Somalia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), on Tuesday launched a project aimed at establishing a multi-hazard Early Warning System under the global Early Warnings for All framework.
Lionel Laurens, the UNDP resident representative in Somalia, said the project addresses Somalia's urgent need for stronger disaster preparedness, improved warning dissemination, and proactive measures to reduce the impact of recurrent droughts, floods, and climate hazards nationwide. By 2030, the initiative aims to cut disaster fatalities by 42 percent and expand early warning coverage from 20 percent to full national coverage.
The Government of Liberia, through the Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, is expected to convene an inception workshop to officially launch the Strengthening Agricultural Resilience Through Transformational Livelihood Adaptation in Liberia (SARTLA) Project, a major climate resilience initiative aimed at supporting vulnerable communities across the country.
The five-year project, which will run from 2026 to 2030, seeks to strengthen climate resilience, improve sustainable livelihoods, and help rural populations adapt to the growing impacts of climate change.
A three-day photography exhibition, "Voice of Coastal Climate Resilience", opened in Dhaka on Thursday, spotlighting the leadership, resilience, and adaptation strategies of women in Bangladesh's climate-vulnerable coastal regions.
The exhibition was inaugurated at Drik Gallery, UNDP-supported Gender-responsive Coastal Adaptation (GCA) Project, with financing by the Green Climate Fund and the Government of Bangladesh. It features photographs illustrating how women in coastal communities are adapting to environmental challenges, including salinity intrusion, cyclones, river erosion, and livelihood insecurity.
Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sewilam, said Egypt is working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to expand climate adaptation projects in the water sector, with a focus on coastal protection and sustainable resource management. In a statement, the Ministry said Sewilam underscored the importance of strengthening cooperation on early warning systems for climate risks, alongside the implementation of practical and scalable adaptation projects.
The discussions reviewed progress on a $31.4m project funded by the Green Climate Fund, which aims to enhance climate adaptation along Egypt’s northern coast and the Nile Delta. Scheduled for completion in November 2026m the project includes mapping risks related to sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, and flooding, in addition to upgrading coastal monitoring systems and developing an integrated coastal zone management plan. The two sides also discussed a potential second phase of the project, which would incorporate nature-based solutions such as beach nourishment to strengthen shoreline protection.
A new set of livelihood plans and guidelines has been launched to help women in Bangladesh’s coastal belt cope with climate change and rising salinity. The materials were presented at a workshop in Dhaka under the GCF-funded Gender-responsive Coastal Adaptation (GCA) project. The Department of Women Affairs, with the Department of Public Health Engineering, is implementing the GCA project in five upazilas of Khulna and Satkhira.
Zinat Ara, Director General of the Department of Women Affairs, said enhancing adaptation capacity of coastal communities is a government priority. She stressed that the approved roadmaps will help women survive adverse conditions and foster empowerment. UNDP’s Sardar Mohiuddin Ahmed said the project shows Bangladesh’s leadership in global climate adaptation. Abdul Hye Al Mahmood, Additional Secretary at the DWA and National Project Director, added that the tools will expand climate-resilient livelihoods and ensure economic stability for women in salt-prone regions. Officials and stakeholders expressed optimism that the initiative will secure sustainable livelihoods and strengthen resilience in vulnerable coastal areas.
The Mi Costa Project, implemented by UNDP and financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Cuban government, is helping communities along southern Cuba adapt to climate change while advancing gender equality. The initiative strengthens coastal ecosystems and resilience for more than 1.3 million people threatened by sea-level rise, storms and salt intrusion. Through training and green jobs in ecosystem restoration, women are gaining skills and leadership roles. Ana María García Hernández’s journey—from unpaid domestic work to leading a forestry brigade—illustrates how empowering women can both transform lives and strengthen climate resilience in vulnerable coastal communities.
Uzbekistan is rolling out a new GIS-based digital system aimed at improving how the country monitors, predicts, and responds to natural and climate-driven emergencies.The initiative is being implemented with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Ministry of Emergency Situations and UzHydromet, and funded by the Green Climate Fund.
The system will allow authorities to automatically collect and analyze data on territorial conditions and emerging threats, enabling the modeling of emergency scenarios through a unified digital mapping platform. This is expected to improve decision-making speed and accuracy during disasters. Designed to meet the operational needs of emergency services, the platform will centralize data from regional units, support spatial analysis and visualization, and strengthen real-time coordination. Officials say it will also enhance targeted public alerts, optimize emergency resource deployment, and improve interagency cooperation.
The UNDP Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) Impact Report 2020–2025 tells the story of how climate adaptation works best when local communities are trusted to lead. Developed under UNDP’s Climate Promise and supported by the Adaptation Fund and the European Union, the programme drew on research and knowledge partnerships with institutions such as the Global Resilience Partnership, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), and leading universities including Yale, Oxford, the University of Cape Town, the Asian Institute of Management and Fundação Getulio Vargas. Together, these partners helped shape an initiative designed to combine local innovation with global learning and evidence-building.
Technical officers from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) contracted for the Sustainable Energy from Biogas for Solomon Islands (SENBIOSIS) project are currently in the country to consult with project stakeholders.
Funded by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) from the Government of Italy, the project will be implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Government of Solomon Islands and will operate in Guadalcanal and Malaita Provinces.
Running from January 2026 to July 2028, the project has a budget of USD 1.58 million.
SENBIOSIS is designed to improve access to clean and affordable energy in off-grid rural areas by promoting the use of biogas technology. The project will reduce organic waste and reliance on firewood by supporting the installation of biogas digesters at commercial livestock farms, rural households, and waste management facilities.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has expanded Uzbekistan’s hydrometeorological network by delivering two advanced X-band weather radars to the Uzbek Hydrometeorology Center (Uzgidromet).
The new radars, purchased with financial support from the Green Climate Fund, have already been installed in Tashkent and Khorezm regions.
Covering a radius of approximately 200 km, the radars can detect air masses, track their movement and speed, assess the likelihood of precipitation—rain or snow—and measure its intensity and duration.
Data from the new radars significantly improve the accuracy of weather forecasts, enable timely detection of hazardous natural events such as floods and mudflows, and help save lives while mitigating the impact of extreme weather events.