LILONGWE, Malawi — Malawi needs an estimated US$46.3 billion between 2020 and 2040 to meet its climate change mitigation and adaptation needs, but the country received only about US$875 million during the reporting period covered by its first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR), writes Steria Manda.
Trocaire Programme Officer for Resilience and Livelihoods Tarcizio Kalaundi disclosed the figures Tuesday in Lilongwe during a two-day climate finance capacity-building workshop organised by Norwegian Church Aid/DanChurchAid (NCA/DCA).
Presenting on climate finance and advocacy, Kalaundi said Malawi’s estimated requirement comprises about US$41.8 billion for mitigation and US$4.5 billion for adaptation.
While about US$875 million had been received during the BTR reporting period, US$2.17 billion had been committed, highlighting a significant gap between the country’s climate finance needs and actual disbursements.
The presentation showed that climate finance received by Malawi is supporting projects aimed at protecting communities, strengthening livelihoods and building resilience to climate change.
Among the projects is the Green Climate Fund’s M-CLIMES project, which is modernising climate information and early warning systems to protect lives and agriculture-based livelihoods.
Climate finance is also supporting ecosystem-based adaptation through the Green Climate Fund’s EbAM project, which focuses on building resilient watersheds and communities through large-scale land management across multiple districts.
The GCF Climate Resilient Health project is supporting the health and well-being of rural communities in southern Malawi, with particular attention to women, children and other vulnerable groups.
The presentation also highlighted the Least Developed Countries Fund’s CLAP for Resilience project, valued at about US$8.9 million plus co-financing. The project supports gender-responsive, nature-based and climate-smart solutions in the Bua River Basin.
Other climate finance-supported interventions include climate risk insurance and area-yield index insurance for smallholder farmers in southern districts, as well as shock-responsive cash transfers and disaster risk financing linked to social protection systems.
Kalaundi said the projects demonstrate that climate finance is already producing practical interventions in Malawi, but stressed that funding remains far below what the country needs.
“Needs far exceed flows. Adaptation gap alone is estimated in the hundreds of billions annually,” he said.
He identified several barriers to accessing climate finance, including complex accreditation processes, high transaction costs, lengthy project cycles, reliance on voluntary and single-year pledges, and weaknesses in tracking and reporting.
Kalaundi said civil society organisations and faith leaders have an important role in monitoring climate finance and helping communities understand where the money comes from, how much is available and how it is being used.
“Churches have organisations and influential members that take part in climate change issues, so faith leaders can use that opportunity to discuss matters of climate financing,” he said.
The presentation identified transparency and accountability as key areas for advocacy, calling for stronger domestic tracking systems, consistent definitions and public reporting of climate finance.
Malawi has developed a Finance Management Information System to track climate-related financial inflows and is also strengthening its transparency capacity through the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency and the BTR process.
Malawi’s first BTR, submitted in 2025, provides official evidence of the country’s climate finance needs and gaps and can be used by CSOs when engaging donors, multilateral development banks, climate funds and international climate negotiations.
Kalaundi further called for predictable, multi-year financing, greater priority for adaptation and loss and damage, simplified access to climate funds and stronger national ownership of climate finance programmes.
“Always pair global numbers with local evidence — BTR needs, specific project results, community impact stories,” he said.
He also urged CSOs, faith leaders and other advocates to push for greater transparency and build broad coalitions involving government, young people, the private sector and traditional leaders.
The training is being conducted under the Voices for Climate Justice: Empowering Malawi’s Vulnerable Communities for a Resilient and Just Future project, implemented by NCA/DCA through the Centre for Environmental Policy Advocacy (CEPA) and the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi, with funding from the Embassy of Ireland.