Start Ready Handbook

Start Ready is a financing mechanism that provides communities with protection from climate risks that can be modelled. It is implemented by civil society - Start Network members. It is helping to shift the way that humanitarians are working, from responding to crises, to protecting communities ahead of their onset. Start Ready prepositions funds for crises that happen with regular and predictable patterns of recurrence, like floods, cyclones, droughts, and heatwaves. Once a pre-agreed threshold is met, NGOs implement pre-prepared contingency plans so that they can anticipate, and respond early, to climate risks.

Start Ready pools risks and funds, allowing Start Network to stretch funding and offer greater protection to communities for less. The concept of Start Ready was launched in 2021 at COP26, and the first Start Ready Risk Pool went live in May 2022. Start Ready complements Start Network’s existing Start Funds, providing more diverse funding to humanitarian organisations for recurring climate risks. It is one of the ways that humanitarians can address loss and damage caused by climate change.

This handbook is aimed at Start Network members (and their partners), the Start Ready Committee and Start Network staff (including Start Programmes staff hosted by Grant Custodian(s)). Other stakeholders such as donors and partners can also access it for information purposes. The handbook is regularly reviewed by the Start Ready team who work with various Start Network teams to update the handbook as needed.