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The United Nations-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF), believed to be the world's largest multilateral climate fund, has committed $100 million for a climate action investment programme in Somalia over the next year.

The funds, announced Tuesday in the Mogadishu during the first-ever visit by the GCF delegation led by its executive director Mafalda Duarte, will help bolster the country's climate resilience efforts, according to a statement issued in the Somali capital Tuesday evening.

Duarte said Somalia is the second most vulnerable country to climate change in the world, despite contributing only 0.03 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, the statement said.

"The interlinked impact of climate change and lack of security has had a devastating effect on people, causing some 43,000 excess deaths in 2022 due to drought, displacing more than six million people, pushing Somalis away from their homes into overcrowded towns and cities," Duarte was quoted as saying in the statement.

Read: War-prone nations hit hardest by climate change

The officials had met with senior government officials, including Prime Minister Hamsa Abdi Barre and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

And according to Somalia’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change Khadija Mohamed Al-Makhzoumi, Green Climate Fund was one of the partners seen as useful to support the programmes.

“We explored how we are prepared to establish a collaborative framework with the GCF. We also discussed our GCF country programme, our climate finance policy, Somali Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), National Adaptation Plan (NAP), and the strength of our institutions to access climate finance.”

“Recurrent drought and regular flooding lead to failed crops, loss of livestock and chronic food insecurity problems in Somalia.

"GCF is committed to working with the government of Somalia and its partners to better address the extreme vulnerability the country and its population face," Duarte said.

GCF is ready to commit to a strategy of investments as well as a long-term commitment to empower Somalia to develop country-priority projects and subsequent investments, she added.

While in Somalia, they launched a project that will provide affordable, reliable off-grid energy access to unelectrified populations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Read: Review shows Somalia deserves funding boost

The programme prioritises capital investment and technical support in Somalia, accelerating disbursements of over $3 million for 2024-2025, with funding from the GCF and other funders, the statement said.

More than 80 percent of Somalia’s landmass comprises arid and semi-arid lands, which are particularly prone to extreme weather conditions, including high mean surface temperatures, prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall, and strong winds, according to the ministry’s data.

Droughts occur frequently and are often followed by devastating floods.

The recent El Niño rains (Indian Ocean Dipole climate pattern) have affected more than 2.5 million people in Somalia, leading to the displacement of 1.2 million people from their homes and causing 118 deaths.

Since January 2024, a total of 2,943 new cholera cases and 26 deaths have been reported in Somalia.

Despite being highly vulnerable to climatic shocks, Somalia receives only about $300 million annually for climate change programme. This amount falls short of the required $16 billion before 2030, as outlined in Somalia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Additional reporting by Abdulkadir Khalif