Good afternoon, dear colleagues and partners,
It is a privilege to co-host this event together with my counterpart and friend from Mozambique, and in collaboration with WFP, FAO, and OCHA. I extend a warm welcome to all of you—both here in Rome and all those joining us virtually.
In a time of escalating climate-induced shocks and constrained resources: Reactive responses are no longer sufficient. The funding crisis demands increased priority of cost-efficient solutions, and anticipatory action is one such solution.
Anticipatory Action sits at the intersection of humanitarian, development, and climate action. It is a tangible example of how we can break down silos and combine humanitarian and development money to respond to the climate crisis in a way that is not only timely, but dignified, efficient, and able to maintain or even build resilience. The pre-planned aspect of anticipatory action has the potential to promote locally led approaches to climate adaptation and disaster preparedness.
Norway has been a steadfast supporter of Anticipatory Action over the last decade. We are proud to be a strong supporter of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund’s, WFP’s, FAO’s and DREF’s work in this field.
We have also supported efforts to strengthen early warning systems, including in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, and to ensure that these systems are linked to pre-agreed financing and action plans.
These efforts often lead to invisible results—crises that never materialize because anticipatory action made the difference.
We especially appreciate the cooperation amongst UN agencies and the growing body of evidence produced jointly by partners - such as the “Saving lives, time and money: evidence from anticipatory action” by FAO, OCHA and WFP. At a time where development funding is decreasing, providing evidence for governments on what really works is key.
As outlined in Norway’s humanitarian strategy, aid must be principled, needs-based, and effective. Anticipatory Action embodies these principles by enhancing efficiency, ensuring better value for money, and—most importantly—upholding the dignity of affected communities through timely, respectful support that prevents suffering.
Norwegian development policies for climate adaptation and food security also supports anticipatory action by making avoided crises a development goal. The cost of the increasing gap between humanitarian needs and available finance is backsliding against the SDGs. That should make reduced and avoided humanitarian crises a priority for both development and humanitarian donors.
We invite all partners— donors, governments, UN agencies, and technical actors—to join us in scaling up Anticipatory Action. Let us invest in predictable financing, support national leadership, and embed early action in humanitarian and development strategies.
This is needed to reach the necessary scale of anticipatory action. WFP and CGIAR recently issued a Norwegian-funded paper on cost effectiveness of WFP’s anticipatory actions to buffer the effects of El Niño conditions in three countries in Southern Africa: Lesotho, Madagascar, and Mozambique. The report concludes that every $1 in anticipatory action is equivalent to $1.23-1.28 in post-shock response to yield the same quantity of benefits. What really stands out in the report though, is the scale of the anticipatory actions, covering 2.2% of the population in need in Mozambique up to 6.6% of the population in need in Madagascar. It seems likely that a higher share of anticipatory action could have saved lives, livelihoods and much-needed funding in this case.
To me this is an argument for why we together need to make anticipatory action the standard, not the exception.
I believe that we must now share knowledge, build momentum, and renew our collective commitment to anticipatory, climate-smart, and locally led humanitarian action.
I thank you, and I very much look forward to the discussion.