The mobilisation of the humanitarian sector in response to the climate and environment crises

12/04/2022

At the 1st European Humanitarian Forum, which took place in Brussels on 21- 23 March 2022, France announced the launch of the ‘Humanitarian aid donors’ declaration on climate and environment’ endorsed by the 27 EU Member States. 11 French civil society organisations welcome this initiative which should lead to concrete actions to improve the way that climatic and environmental issues are taken into account by humanitarian actors.

From Zambia to Guatemala, from the Philippines to Vanuatu, climate change is causing humanitarian crises and making those that exist worse. On average, in the last 50 years, there has been a weather-, climate- or water-related disaster every day, which has killed 115 people and caused 202 million dollars of damage per day according to a recent report by the World Meteorological Organization. Climate change is increasing the risk of food insecurity and water shortages, and is undermining development gains. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just announced that the three next years are crucial to maintain a planet that is liveable, by reaching peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. Faced with the climate crisis that is severely affecting more than 3 billion people around the world, the humanitarian sector has decided to mobilise and adapt its practices.

Greener NGOs

In the last two years, a growing number of humanitarian organisations have made commitments to take climatic and environmental issues into account more in their projects. 225 organisations have signed the ‘Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations’ (https://www.climate-charter.org) which was launched in May 2021 by the Red Cross Movement. In addition,10 French NGOs adopted a Statement of Commitment on Climate in December 2020. This aims, firstly, to improve the way that climatic risks are integrated into humanitarian projects by focusing on preparedness and early action. And secondly, it aims to ensure that the activities of NGOs do as little harm as possible to the environment (greenhouse gas emissions, waste, pollution and the consumption of natural resources).

Alone, we can go faster, but together we can go further

These efforts need to be supported and funded by donors. On 21 March 2022, France announced that the 27 Member States of the European Union had adopted the ‘Humanitarian aid donors’ declaration on climate and environment’: https://humanitarian.forum.europa.eu/outcomes-and-reports-2022_fr. This declaration, which was drawn up following consultation with NGOs, is an important first step which needs to be followed up by concrete action in three areas:

We feel that governments should increase funding of disaster prevention, preparedness, anticipation and response. Why? Because, according to the WMO, though the number of disasters has been multiplied by five in 50 years due to climate change and extreme weather events, the number of deaths has almost been divided by three due to improved early warning systems and disaster management. Every US dollar invested in risk reduction and prevention can save up to 15 US dollars spent on disaster response https://www.undrr.org/about-undrr/funding. Not only should the volume of these investments be increased, they should also contribute to promoting the know-how and capacities of actors involved at the local and national levels, and reinforcing the resilience of the most vulnerable and marginalised people, particularly women, people with disabilities and children. It is time to show that the collective ambition and rapidity of response to the Covid-19 crisis and the Ukrainian crisis can be reproduced by governments to tackle an emergency that is already severely affecting more than 3 billion people: the climate crisis

We ask that governments technically and financially support the efforts of an increasing number of humanitarian organisations to reduce their environmental footprint in line with the ‘do no harm’ principle while continuing to respond in a timely manner to people’s humanitarian needs. This transition requires additional financial and human resources. It will involve developing and implementing projects that are longer than classic humanitarian responses, working with providers of goods and services who are more costly but who respect stricter environmental norms, adjusting our operational methods, and reinforcing technical expertise within our organisations in order to integrate this dimension throughout the project cycle.

Lastly, we call on the European Commission to establish an accountability mechanism to monitor how donors concretely put their commitments into practice based on yearly reporting and an annual discussion session. The European Commission could, in collaboration with the Member State presiding the European Council, run such a session at subsequent European Humanitarian Forums so that the signatories of the donor declaration are able to discuss the progress made, identify ways of overcoming obstacles and reinforce collaboration. Civil society organisations should be fully involved in these exchanges.

Through this donor initiative, France, which holds the presidency of the European Council from January to June 2022, has placed the EU at the forefront of this mobilisation. This now needs to be taken to the next level by convincing other governments to join the movement. It is time to prove to the IPCC that the humanitarian sector (international NGOs, local associations, donors, and UN agencies, etc.) are not content to just read scientific reports about the climate, but are also determined to adapt their practices and take action accordingly.