In 2023, there is no longer any doubt that climate change is going to have – and has already had – tragic consequences for the most vulnerable people. It is also having an impact on the different systems that can lead to crisis. As a result, there is a risk that the humanitarian sector is going to be overwhelmed, and that, increasingly, it will be short of funding[1]. Humanitarian actors (donors and NGOs) are aware of these challenges and have made commitments by signing the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations, the Statement of Commitment on Climate by Humanitarian Organisations and the Humanitarian Aid Donors’ Declaration on Climate and Environment. However, given the urgent nature of the situation, and the fact that 2020-2030 is the ‘decisive decade’[2], humanitarian NGOs need to take a political stance and play their role of influencers in international spheres. As witnesses and actors who respond to the impacts of climate change, humanitarian NGOs need to get away from the ‘decorum’ (to use the word of David Tilus during the Spring School on Humanitarian Aid) that has become the norm, and re-embrace political engagement so that they can address the unprecedented increase in humanitarian crises. As certain NGOs, such as CARE France[3], already do, French humanitarian NGOs need to take part in the climate struggle and, as mentioned in the introduction to this issue, they need to ‘reconnect with civil society’, particularly with youth movements (see box below), in order to take fairer and more effective action.

The de-politicisation of NGOs

The de-politicisation of NGOs was one of the major topics of the Spring School. Their dependence on donors and donor regulations effectively reduce their politicisation. Though necessary, these regulations can hinder and even discourage political engagement. For example, the ecological association, Alternatiba Poitiers, was recently told by the local prefecture that its grant would be withdrawn because its actions were contrary to the Republican Contract (Contrat d’Engagement Républicain). This Contract, which was introduced in France in connection with the law on ‘separatism’ of 24 August 2021, ‘concerns associations or foundations who apply for a grant from an administrative authority’[4]. The law makes it possible to ‘limit grants to any association that does not respect the values of the Republic’[5]. Because Alternatiba Poitiers organised a workshop on civil disobedience – a tactic that is regularly used in the climate movement – a request was made to withdraw their grant. This example shows how much donor regulations can hinder the actions of organisations that receive public funding and even prevent them from taking action. The current NGO funding ecosystem can therefore prevent NGOs from taking a public stance, particularly if this is related to a subject that is as politicised as climate change.

This de-politicisation does not fit with the ‘initial’ image that NGOs had. In the 1970s and 80s, in response to the major injustices in the world, young people would get involved in the humanitarian sector: it was the time of the ‘French Doctors’, when the meaning of ‘non-governmental’ was clear and not being neutral was accepted practice. In other words, getting involved in an NGO was radical. Nowadays – and here I am speaking as a young person who has studied in the humanitarian sector -, humanitarian NGOs are no longer viewed with the same enthusiasm as they are often perceived as ‘governmental’. On the whole, they are well regarded by the general public – a survey recently found that 55% of French people “have a (very or rather) favourable image of NGOs and international aid organisations who take action in developing countries”[6]. Becoming more bureaucratic has allowed them to become more rigorous, but paradoxically this can make their actions appear less effective, less rapid and less likely to lead to change. The wealthiest NGOs are even sometimes referred to as the ‘CAC 40 NGOs’ or as government ‘pawns’, as was heard on several occasions during the Spring School. Nowadays young people often enter this sector after studying a course in humanitarian action, whereas before, people tended to come from other professions. As a result, the new generation are fully aware of criticisms of the humanitarian sector, such as its neo-liberal and neo-colonial aspects, without forgetting scandals such as the Oxfam scandal[8] or the ICRC scandal[9] in Ukraine, which had a huge impact on social networks, and therefore on young people. The image of international NGOs is therefore no longer one of independent and radical organisations who are capable of bringing about real change.  Worse still, as mentioned during the Spring School, NGOs have fallen behind civil society in relation to feminism, and this also seems to be the case in relation to combatting climate change. According to David Tilus, this is because “under the guise of good intentions, they do not take a stance… except that all action or inaction is political, all silence is political”. Given the climate emergency, humanitarian NGOs need to advocate and take action publicly!

Why do NGOs need to become more politicised in response to the climate emergency?

The effects of climate change, like the increase in the number and intensity of natural disasters, are not simply due to ‘nature’. Indeed, “to understand the causes of disasters, it is necessary to know that they are not just due to natural events [but] are also the product of social, political and economic environments”[10]. Some even describe them as ‘disasters by choice’[11], that is to say they are not natural but political and social. Socio-economic inequalities cause vulnerabilities that will influence the capacity of a population affected by a disaster to survive and respond in a timely manner. As combatting social inequalities and poverty are at the heart of the humanitarian mandate, aid sector actors can and should contribute to the struggle against climate change; it is the same affected populations that humanitarians will have to assist, but in even more degraded conditions. For example, not taking a stance against a project that has a negative effect on climate change, such as EACOP, the 1445 km heated pipeline project by TotalEnergies in Uganda and Tanzania, has political and humanitarian consequences. This project will lead to the displacement of more than 100 000 people and will cause food insecurity[12]. This is a clear example of how combatting climate change and the humanitarian mandate overlap.

Lack of action on the climate today could have tragic consequences in the near future on the people who will require humanitarian aid. Not taking action today would therefore be contrary to the ‘Do No Harm’ principle. Even though NGOs have made commitments to take action in this area, it is difficult to know if the efforts they have made will be enough to reach the objectives that have been fixed, at a time when NGOs lack money and needs are increasing. Donors have also made commitments, but they have not increased their funding to reduce NGOs’ environmental footprint or for the response to the effects of climate change[13]. Due to the urgency of the situation and of existing needs, NGOs need to take action and ask for more funding to respond to these, or they need to establish new alliances by getting involved in movements or other projects so that funds are spent more effectively. We need a more politically engaged humanitarian sector, particularly in terms of climate change because its impacts affect them directly.  The criteria that donors and international NGOs apply to determine who they can establish partnerships with also need to be changed. In the last edition of Humanitarian Aid on the Move, one article underlined the strength of the RESILAC project, where partner NGOs have been part of the decision-making process since the beginning[14]. It is a project that seems innovative, yet its reasoning is “self-evident”. We need more projects where decision-making power is egalitarian, or even reversed. It is vital that humanitarian NGOs – such as CARE France, which has joined forces with a variety of movements to launch a campaign to tax super-polluters – reinvent themselves and commit to meeting the new challenges of global warming.

“We need to listen to the ‘middle fingers’ people are giving us”. This statement, which was made during the Spring School underlines how humanitarian NGOs need to change, particularly in response to the climate emergency. It is essential that they readjust and rethink their added value in relation to the aid sector as a whole. NGOs need to coordinate their actions and their raison d’être with the numerous youth movements who campaign for the climate, among other things, all over the world, both in the countries where they are based, and the countries where they implement projects. These movements need support, particularly organisational support, to help them continue to exist and achieve their objectives. The NGO, 350.org, for example, supports these movements to help them increase their effectiveness, ensure that their message is heard and carry out their actions. It also supports the #STOPEACOP movement, which campaigns to stop the pipeline project mentioned above. It is therefore a ‘glocal’ (global and local) movement, with branches all over the world campaigning for the same cause[15]. Of course, these movements exist independently of 350.org, but the support they receive from this NGO helps them to get the resources they need for their actions. It is therefore crucial to support these activist movements by treating them as allies and as a means of transmitting NGOs’ visions and political engagement in response to the climate emergency.

Conclusion

A 2017 report by IRIS on the role of international NGOs in 2030 suggested that, in response to the structural and political changes to come, they might become ‘INGOs at your service’ or service providers for local and regional humanitarian actors[16]. This scenario also seems coherent with the principles of localisation and the increasing lack of financial resources to respond to crises. As such, international NGOs could support movements that already exist, which means that they would reduce their direct action, but which would allow them to reduce their environmental footprint, by travelling less and only when it is necessary, in keeping with their institutional commitments.

Some might say that this would be ‘the joyful death of NGOs’ and that it would be contrary to the role of NGOs as direct field operators. Such a change could also be criticised because it would ‘disconnect’ NGOs from the field, which would reduce the quality of the aid delivered. However, given the reduction in resources and the increase in the number of crises combined with the commitment to reduce their environmental footprint, how will international NGOs be able to cope with the crises of the future without working with the movements that exist and need support? Global warming is already a humanitarian crisis and its impact will continue to grow. These two struggles are in fact one and the same. Climate change is at the heart of the humanitarian mandate – it is about saving lives. It is about survival!

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New visions for humanitarian action: what role can young people play?

To transmit a new humanitarian vision and ensure that these changes take place, the engagement of young people, and engaging with young people, could be part of the answer. However, young people are at the centre of two contradictory ‘feelings’. On the one hand, they are perceived as being the most concerned by climate change – a person born in 2020 will experience up to 7 times more heatwaves than a person born in 1960[17] – and it is therefore assumed that they will ‘naturally’ bring about change in politics, business and organisations. On the other hand, they are sometimes perceived as being ‘lazy’, ‘uneducated’, and even ‘selfish and individualistic’[18]. Studies show that “young people tend to be excluded from decision-making, both in the Global North and South, at organisational, community and national levels”[19]. And though NGOs offer numerous internships (that are not well paid, if at all), there are very few junior staff positions available.

In the countries where international NGOs are active, the situation is even more dire. “Young local people are often the first to respond in the event of an emergency, but… humanitarian actors tend to treat them as passive victims with a limited role to play in communication and the response to crises”[20], thus neglecting their potential as competent agents during crises. So how can these two aspects be combined ? How do we allow young people to bring about this ‘natural’ change, but also overcome their lack of experience and skills? This dilemma is illustrated well by Amnesty International’s campaign entitled ‘Bienvenue aux idéalistes’ (Welcome to the idealists).

Not taking advantage of young people’s engagement also means missing out on the way humanitarian donations are now being made. Due to their lack of confidence in NGOs and the rise of social networks, young people share links that allow funds to be sent directly to local organisations in crises. This happened, for example, after the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, when NGO campaigns were launched hours or days after links for the White Helmets, for example, had been posted and shared on social networks[21]. These new forms of funding also “allow affected communities to construct their own narratives … In some cases, these may explicitly push back against how outsiders [major NGOs] frame their communities, such as challenging the reduction of their identities to refugees or victims”[22]. International NGOs should take into account these new ways of funding responses by young people on social networks, where the money often goes directly to the NGOs on the ground.  This changes the usual dynamic whereby the money goes from donors to international NGOs, who then sub-contract to the local implementing partner, with the money going through several stages where funds are retained. The humanitarian sector therefore needs to adapt as quickly as possible  in order to be compatible with today’s reality.

Including young people in the running of international NGOs and working with existing movements would allow power relations to be redefined while, at the same time, making aid more effective.

[1] Knox Clarke, P. (2021). Climate Change & Humanitarian Action 2021. ADAPT Initiative. https://reliefweb.int/report/world/climate-change-humanitarian-action-2021.

[2] A decisive decade. (2021). Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(11), 1465‑1465. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01582-1.

[3] Climat : Mobilisation de 12 associations, signez notre pétition | ONG CARE France. (s. d.). Care. https://www.carefrance.org/actualites/climat-mobilisation-de-12-associations-signez-notre-petition/.

[4] Le contrat d’engagement républicain : Le guide pratique. (2023, juin 20). Associations.gouv.fr. https://www.associations.gouv.fr/le-contrat-d-engagement-republicain-le-guide-pratique.html.

[5] Subvention à Alternatiba : La ville de Poitiers contre-attaque. (2023, février 13). ici, par France Bleu et France 3. https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/politique/subvention-a-alternatiba-la-ville-de-poitiers-contre-attaque-8847539.

[6] Les ONG de solidarité internationale vues par les Français·es. (s. d.). Focus 2030. https://focus2030.org/Les-ONG-de-solidarite-internationale-vues-par-les-Francais-es.

[7] The CAC 40 is a French stock market index.

[8] Oxfam criticised over Haiti sex claims. (2019, juin 11). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48593401.

[9] Clements-Hunt, A. (2022, avril 5). Supping With the Kremlin Devil: The Red Cross Dilemma. CEPA. https://cepa.org/article/supping-with-the-kremlin-devil-the-red-cross-dilemma/.

[10] Pepper, D., Webster, F., & Revill, G. (2003). Environmentalism: Critical Concepts. Taylor & Francis.

[11] Kelman, I. (2020). Disaster by Choice: How our actions turn natural hazards into catastrophes. Oxford University Press.

[12] Human Rights Watch. (2023). “Our Trust is Broken”—Loss of Land and Livelihoods for Oil Development in Uganda. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2023/07/uganda0723web.pdf.

[13] In 2023, DG ECHO’s Humanitarian Implementation Plan, for example, assumes that the cost of implementing minimum environmental requirements (MERs) is absorbed by the total budget, and that no additional funds will be added, within the limit of a “10% cap” for certain activities that are more costly in the long term. (https://www.dgecho-partners-helpdesk.eu/download/referencedocumentfile/272)

[14] Samira Habiba Abdoulaye, A Cameroonian organisation’s role in the RESILAC project, HEM No. 24, December 2022. https://www.urd.org/en/review-hem/a-cameroonian-organisations-role-in-the-resilac-project/

[15] Terren, L., & Soler-i-Martí, R. (2021). “Glocal” and Transversal Engagement in Youth Social Movements: A Twitter-Based Case Study of Fridays For Future-Barcelona. Frontiers in Political Science, 3. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2021.635822.

[16] IRIS, Action Against Hunger, Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, Futuribles, & IARAN. (2019). The Future of Humanitarian Aid – INGOs in 2030. IRIS/Action Against Hunger/Centre for Humanitarian Leadership/Futuribles/IARAN. file:///C:/ESutherland_Data/URD/Telechargements/The_Future_Of_Aid_INGOs_In_2030-20.compressed.pdf

[17] Thiery, W., Lange, S., Rogelj, J., Schleussner, C.-F., Gudmundsson, L., Seneviratne, S. I., Andrijevic, M., Frieler, K., Emanuel, K., Geiger, T., Bresch, D. N., Zhao, F., Willner, S. N., Büchner, M., Volkholz, J., Bauer, N., Chang, J., Ciais, P., Dury, M., … Wada, Y. (2021). Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes. Science, 374(6564), 158‑160. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi7339.

[18] Saqué, S. (2023). Sois jeune et tais-toi. Payot & Rivages.

[19] Douglas, A. (2023). NGO reflections on putting the youth first: Improving youth participation in development practice. Development in Practice, 0(0), 1‑13. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2023.2213861.

[20] Haynes, K., & Tanner, T. M. (2015). Empowering young people and strengthening resilience: Youth-centred participatory video as a tool for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Children’s Geographies, 13(3), 357‑371. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2013.848599.

[21] Saleh, R. A. (2023, février 14). Opinion: It was one of the world’s deadliest catastrophes. Where was the UN? CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/13/opinions/white-helmets-syria-united-nations-earthquake-al-saleh/index.html.

[22] Lough, O. (2022). Social media and inclusion in humanitarian response (HPG Working Paper), ODI. https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/Social_media_inclusion.pdf, p. 40.