Global funding for preparation and response to El Nino is critically insufficient, Oxfam warned on Thursday, as the weather phenomenon — which scientists say could be the strongest on record — brings wildfires, crop failures and growing food and water insecurity across much of the world. Its intensity is likely to peak from this month until April next year.

Source: Oxfam International

Total global funding currently stands at $450 million — yaani about 45 crore dollars. The UN Central Emergency Response Fund has allocated up to $100 million (yaani about 10 crore dollars) and has so far disbursed $20 million to six countries. The majority of the remaining $350 million relies on appeals, and less than 20 per cent of that has so far been pledged, Oxfam said in the statement carried by ReliefWeb, the UN OCHA humanitarian information service.

Source: ReliefWeb (UN OCHA)

By comparison, the previous strongest El Nino in 2015-2016, when more than 60 million people were affected, triggered a $5 billion collective appeal, of which nearly $2 billion was successfully raised. Oxfam noted that warnings sounded at last month's UN General Assembly by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and countries including Vanuatu, India and Barbados have not yet translated into a dedicated UN resolution on El Nino, which in previous events helped galvanise international action and funding.

"This El Nino is impacting a climate already overheated by the outsized carbon emissions of the world's richest polluters," said Oxfam's Humanitarian Director Marta Valdes Garcia. "It is happening at the worst possible time, putting more stress on a weakened humanitarian system that is already struggling to keep up with the enormous scale of need."