As climate impacts grow stronger around the world, countries that can anticipate multiple hazards and warn their communities early are able to act before disasters strike. In Georgia, building such systems is becoming a reality.
Monitoring data from weather stations, satellites, and other sources are collected on a single platform and processed to provide timely forecasts. These forecasts help authorities and communities prepare for floods, landslides, droughts, and other hazards.
International expert George Karagiannis has been working closely with Georgia’s National Environmental Agency, Emergency Management Service, and other partners to review early warning protocols and share best practices. This effort is part of UNDP Georgia’s climate program, implemented with support from the Green Climate Fund and the governments of Switzerland and Sweden. Over seven years, the program—co-financed by Georgia with US$38 million—aims to reduce the risks that climate change poses to people, livelihoods, and infrastructure.
The program includes four projects: expanding Georgia’s early warning system, strengthening climate adaptation, supporting communities to cope with climate risks, and continuing capacity-building efforts. Together, these projects improve how data is collected, analyzed, and used, and make sure communities understand and act on warnings.
Already, Georgia has made significant progress. The country joined the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in 2021 and formed a partnership with the European Meteorological Network in 2025. Of 154 planned monitoring stations, 143 are already in place, including weather and agriculture stations. A new upper-air monitoring system in Poti is about to start operating, and the Georgian Climate Service for Agriculture is supporting over 1,000 users in pilot regions. Geological monitoring stations now track landslide-prone areas, and detailed hazard and risk maps have been developed for river basins across the country.
Communities are also at the center of this work. Local disaster management plans have been adopted in several municipalities, and community-based risk management programs are helping people take action—planting trees, clearing riverbeds, and building small protective structures. Priority flood-protection infrastructure is being constructed in high-risk areas, while awareness campaigns and training have reached thousands, including young people in climate-focused programs. Scholarships and educational opportunities are also helping students pursue studies in environmental sciences and sustainable development.
Through these efforts, Georgia is creating a system that not only predicts hazards but empowers people to respond. By combining technology, planning, and community action, the country is learning to live with climate risks more safely and confidently.
Source: UNDP Georgia
