SOFF – A showcase of innovation 

New York, 17 June 2025. Annual Partnership Forum of UN Multi-Partner Trust Funds showcases the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) as an example of innovation. 

At the Annual Partnership Forum, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in New York, the United Nations entity dedicated to pooled funding instruments presented its Annual Report summarizing how it supports Governments worldwide to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Amidst a complex global environment with growing pressure on public development and climate finance the Annual Partnership Forum demonstrated how UN pooled funding ensures accountability, drives efficiency, and innovates to achieve impact.  

SOFF as the specialized UN fund supporting developing countries to close their basic weather and climate data gaps is part of the UNMPTF family. UNMPTF Office Executive Director Alain Noudehou stated that ‘innovation is the bedrock for UN pooled funds, with SOFF as a very concrete example’. 

SOFF – reducing redundancies and enhancing efficiency in development finance 

Weather observing infrastructure has received significant development investment in the past, yet those investments have not translated into sustained generation and international exchange of basic weather and climate data. Recognizing this perennial problem, in December 2019 at UNFCCC COP25, major multilateral development and climate organizations and funds committed to uniting and scaling up efforts to close the capacity gap on high-quality weather forecasts. As its first priority they committed to seek innovative ways to finance developing country surface-based observations, aiming at the creation of a new specialized facility – SOFF, which then was established by WMO, UNEP and UNDP as a results-based, impact driven, pooled funding mechanism. 

The power of UN pooled funding to address complex issues 

Ambassador Thomas Zahneisen, representing the Federal Republic of Germany as one of the largest UNMPTF contributors, highlighted the importance of pooled funding to address complex development challenges. ‘Investing in pooled funds pays off. They ensure efficient, coherent, and less fragmented support’.  

Germany, through its national weather service, is supporting SOFF implementation by providing hands-on technical assistance to Meteo Madagascar.  

Rina Kristmon from the Norway Permanent Mission in New York highlighted UNMPTF’s transparency that ensures accountability and efficient spending of increasingly scarce donor resources.   

Norway is amongst the largest UNMPTF donor, but also a major partner to SOFF.  Through annual pledges, Norway substantially contributes to SOFF funding, and Met Norway provides peer-to-peer technical assistance to Ethiopia and Malawi. 

SOFF – innovating how support is provided, innovating how resources are mobilized 

Markus Repnik, Director of the SOFF Secretariat, highlighted the main features of how SOFF is innovating the way it engages with developing countries to ensure sustained generation and international exchange of basic weather and climate observations that provide the foundation for all forecasts. ‘SOFF values the global public good nature of basic observations, hence SOFF provides long-term, grant-only and results-based financial and peer-to-peer technical support. And it does this at low cost’. 

Thanks to 12 pioneer funders, SOFF operations have rapidly taken off since opening its doors for business three years ago. In order to continue operating at speed and scale and continue responding to high country demand, SOFF needs to scale up and is innovating its fundraising to mobilize additional USD 200 million. A cornerstone of this is the SOFF Impact Bond that is currently being developed and envisioned to be announced at UNFCCC COP30. 

With innovating finance, SOFF aims to achieve three objectives.  

First, creating impact. With the additional resources, countries will increase the amount of basic weather and climate data generated and internationally shared by 500 percent.  

Second, expanding its donor base, seeking to mobilize contributions from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral. This includes “traditional” funders, bilateral funders from emerging market economies, philanthropies, private sector benefits from data.  

Third, frontloading resources. Given the high global costs of delayed action, the bond will make resources available upfront through borrowing in debt capital markets while allowing donors to spread contributions over a longer period. 

SOFF additional resources urgently required to improve weather forecasts 

SOFF investments substantially contribute to improve weather forecast quality. The European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts released at study earlier this week that summarizes first-of-its kind impact experiments for surface-based observations enabled by SOFF.  

Florian Pappenberger, Director of Forecasts and Services and Deputy Director-General at ECMWF, said: “Better forecasts can benefit the people in the country and beyond. Not only can this feed into better early warning systems and save lives and livelihoods, but global weather and climate models benefit from this data in parallel, improving forecasts around the world.” 

About

United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund (UNMPTF) Office 

The United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office is the centre of expertise in pooled funding. Established 2004, it is the only United Nations entity dedicated to the design and administration of multi-stakeholder pooled financing instruments, supporting the launch of over 150 pooled funds across the entire humanitarian-development-peace spectrum. It has managed over 200 trust funds, received over $19 billion US dollars in deposits, and invested in programmes overseen by more than 50 participating United Nations organizations. 

European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)  

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is both a research institute and a 24/7 operational service, producing global numerical weather predictions and other data for our Member and Co-operating States and the broader community. It operates a world-class supercomputer facility for weather forecasting and holds one of the largest meteorological data archives.  

Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF)  

SOFF is a UN specialized fund co-created by WMO, UNDP and UNEP to close the climate and weather observations data gap in countries with the most severe shortfalls in observations, prioritizing Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and SIDS. SOFF provides long term financial and technical assistance to support the acquisition and international sharing of basic weather and climate observations, according to the internationally agreed Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) regulations. SOFF is a foundational element and delivery vehicle of the UN Early Warnings for All Initiative.  

Global Basic Observing Network (GBON)  

GBON paves the way for a radical overhaul of the international exchange of observational data, which underpins all weather, climate and water services and products. GBON sets the requirements for the acquisition and exchange of basic surface-based observing network designed, defined and monitored at the global level. GBON will improve the availability of the most essential surface-based data, which will have a direct positive impact on the quality of weather forecasts, thus helping improve the safety and well-being of citizens throughout the world.