Climate smart response in a funding crisis: what communities have to say

The climate emergency is hitting vulnerable communities hard. It changes who needs assistance and where, and the type of assistance that’s needed. As climate crises metastasise a shrinking pot of humanitarian aid is stretched thinner and thinner, forced to fillthe gaps left bygovernments,development and climate actorsin fragile contexts.

Tentative progress has been made in making humanitarian response more “climate smart”. Massive aid cuts and a donor focus on prioritising back to basics puts this in jeopardy. But if we don’t invest in crisis prevention and building resilience now we’ll face spiraling crises.

Our research with communities in Chad, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Afghanistan suggests four key changes we need to make which have a double benefit - making humanitarian assistance fit for the climate crisis AND making more efficient and effective use of scarce resources. Our speakers will set out a plan for keeping climate at the centre of humanitarian action even as funding is reduced to a trickle.