Disasters continue to exact a staggering toll on lives and economies. The
Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 estimates the global cost of disasters at nearly USD 2.3 trillion. With climate change driving more frequent and intense hazards, the demand for financing disaster preparedness and resilience has never been greater.
Early warning systems (EWS) remain one of the most cost-effective tools to prevent loss and protect livelihoods. According to the World Bank, every dollar invested in EWS can yield up to tenfold returns by reducing disaster impacts. Yet these returns depend on a crucial factor: the ability to deliver timely, understandable, and actionable warnings to the people at risk. This is the focus of
Pillar 3 of the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative — Warning Dissemination and Communication — led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The current early warning system financing landscape
Investments in EWS are accelerating. According to t
he Global Observatory for Early Warning System Investments — a key output of the EW4All initiative — approved financing in 2024 reached about USD 480 million across 328 projects in 127 countries. This marks a notable rise from the previous years and reflects growing political and financial commitment to disaster resilience.
Major climate and development funds lead this effort. The Green Climate Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank together account for most global EWS financing, complemented by initiatives such as CREWS, SOFF and bilateral partners providing substantial grant support. Combined, these mechanisms represent roughly USD 5.6 billion invested globally to strengthen early warning capacities over the past 10 years.
Still,
half of all national EWS investments are concentrated in just five countries, while many least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) struggle to mobilize predictable and sustained financing.
Moreover,
most funding leaves dissemination and communication underfinanced — compared to the volume of the needs — despite its critical role in saving lives. Few of these investments directly address the “last mile" — ensuring alerts actually reach people, especially in remote, fragile, or conflict-affected settings.
Financing the last mile: Dissemination and communication
Reaching everyone, everywhere, requires robust, redundant and inclusive communication systems, and a multi-channel approach. These include cell broadcast (CB), location-based SMS, satellite alerts, radio, television and community-based systems. Among them,
CB stands out as a high-impact but low-cost investment. 
CB technology enables authorities to send geographically targeted alerts to all mobile phones within seconds, without congesting the network. Once installed, the cost of delivering additional alerts is negligible. While system costs vary by country, the core CB platform can typically be deployed for around USD 2 million, with additional expenditures covering integration, licensing, capacity-building and governance.
Thanks to technological maturity and economies of scale, the cost of CB has fallen sharply in recent years. What once required complex, bespoke installations is now a streamlined, interoperable system supported by global standards such as the Common Alerting Protocol.
Beyond CB itself, financing is also needed for institutional arrangements, regulatory frameworks, training and community engagement. These elements ensure that alerts are not only sent, but understood and acted upon. In short, dissemination is not the most expensive part of EWS — but it is often the most decisive. |
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Building sustainable financing for Warning Dissemination and Communication
Achieving global early warning coverage requires predictable, sustained, and inclusive financing across all four EW4All pillars. For dissemination and communication, this means:
- Embedding warning dissemination in national budgets and emergency telecommunication plans
- Using blended and performance-based finance, including grants, concessional loans, and co-financing from mobile network operators
- Investing in capacity development and system maintenance, not just one-off equipment
- Supporting multi-channel approaches — from CB to radio and satellite — to ensure redundancy and reach
- Prioritizing people-centred, accessible communication, particularly for those most at risk
These investments not only save lives. They also unlock the full value of upstream investments in forecasting and risk monitoring.
Become a partner of ITU and EW4All
Our key partners include governments, multilateral and financial institutions, and the private sector. Through collaboration and co-financing, we can help countries build inclusive, technology-driven public warning systems that reach everyone — instantly, reliably and accessibly.
Join us by:
Funding the mission
Fuel transformative impact by funding ITU’s work to build inclusive, technology-driven public warning systems. If you wish to support, you can reach us at ew4all@itu.int.
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