Climate Action in Emergency and Humanitarian Livelihood Assistance
20/10/2023
Geneva, Rome – Celebrating the World Food Forum Flagship Week, the youth teams of the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva (LOG) and the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) joined hands to organize a panel discussion on Climate Action in Emergency and Humanitarian Livelihood Assistance.
Under this year’s WFF theme “Agrifood systems accelerates climate actions,” this event invited experts from different organizations to demonstrate how integrating climate and environmental considerations into humanitarian interventions is not only an integral part of delivering on the Climate Charter and the 2030 Agenda but is also an essential aspect of protecting our environment, people and their communities and the agrifood systems that sustain them. The panel discussion facilitated knowledge exchange and awareness raising around the environmental impact of humanitarian interventions around four key themes – 1) the role of youth and women 2) technology and innovation / evidence generation, 3) sustainability, and 4) the role of local and national actors.
Fleur Wouterse, Deputy Director of the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience, opened the discussion by stressing the need for humanitarian operations, which saves lives in situations of acute food insecurity, to be accompanied by longer-term interventions which address the environmental and climate-related issues. She further added, “It is essential to recognize that as our environment deteriorates at a global, regional, national and local level, it significantly heightens the vulnerability of communities to disasters and intensifies the impacts of climate change. In this perilous equation, youth, children and women often bear the heaviest burden, facing unique and disproportionate challenges.”
Following the opening remarks, the panelists presented the initiatives that their respective organizations are carrying out to ensure effective integration of climate and environmental aspects in emergency response. Nelly Bedijo, Programme Specialist from FAO Uganda, shared that FAO is pioneering sustainable forest management and ecosystem restoration in displacement contexts with a recently launched project “Greening the humanitarian response in displacement settings” in Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, supported by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).
Technology and innovation also play a key role in maximizing the environmental sustainability of humanitarian interventions by offering practical solutions. Cara Christine Tobin, Head of Water Sanitation Technology Programme and Lead of Energy and Environment Experts from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) shared concrete examples of projects carried out by the EPFL Essential Tech Center. For instance, they are assisting humanitarian organizations to reduce the carbon footprint of their interventions by developing the Green House Gas Emissions Calculator. Together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), EPFL is supporting a roadmap to reduce their e-waste from solar lanterns in refugee camps. Youth, often associated with their adeptness with technology, are also a driving force behind innovation by offering creative technological solutions to address the climate crisis, such as through EPFL’s Sustainable Shelter Application.
Mary Njenga, Research Scientist in Bioenergy of the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) in Nairobi, also stressed that evidence generation is key to ensure that governments and key stakeholders have access to data to inform their decisions for policymaking or designing interventions and programmes. Thus, partnerships with research institutions such as CIFOR – ICRAF who are producing relevant literature on nature-based solutions can support organizations with climate adaptation work in emergency and humanitarian settings.
A key theme that emerged was the significance of partnerships. Yukta Kumar, Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Officer from UNHCR Ethiopia, reminded that actors in the Humanitarian, Development, Peace Nexus and beyond must work collaboratively to mobilize urgent and ambitious climate action. To ensure long-term sustainability of the humanitarian interventions, governments must have a central role and take the lead in the processes. For example, in Nigeria, a partnership between FAO and UNHCR was instrumental in supporting refugees from Cameroon and host communities in engaging in agricultural livelihoods. Working closely with governments, UNHCR played its protection role and facilitated entry into the landscape and communities, while FAO stepped in to support communities to engage in agricultural livelihoods.
Another takeaway message was the need for a paradigm shift – refugees must be seen as part of the solution for sustainable landscapes. For instance, CIFOR – ICRAF is promoting women’s participation in natural resource management and bioeconomy, such as recovery of biochar from organic residues and recycling of grey wastewater. The approaches to address climate and environmental crises must be gender-responsive, nature-based and people-centered and must include everyone at the table, particularly youth and women, as the multidimensional and transboundary nature of the climate crisis calls for a multi-stakeholder approach across different sectors.
Under this year’s WFF theme “Agrifood systems accelerates climate actions,” this event invited experts from different organizations to demonstrate how integrating climate and environmental considerations into humanitarian interventions is not only an integral part of delivering on the Climate Charter and the 2030 Agenda but is also an essential aspect of protecting our environment, people and their communities and the agrifood systems that sustain them. The panel discussion facilitated knowledge exchange and awareness raising around the environmental impact of humanitarian interventions around four key themes – 1) the role of youth and women 2) technology and innovation / evidence generation, 3) sustainability, and 4) the role of local and national actors.
Fleur Wouterse, Deputy Director of the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience, opened the discussion by stressing the need for humanitarian operations, which saves lives in situations of acute food insecurity, to be accompanied by longer-term interventions which address the environmental and climate-related issues. She further added, “It is essential to recognize that as our environment deteriorates at a global, regional, national and local level, it significantly heightens the vulnerability of communities to disasters and intensifies the impacts of climate change. In this perilous equation, youth, children and women often bear the heaviest burden, facing unique and disproportionate challenges.”
Following the opening remarks, the panelists presented the initiatives that their respective organizations are carrying out to ensure effective integration of climate and environmental aspects in emergency response. Nelly Bedijo, Programme Specialist from FAO Uganda, shared that FAO is pioneering sustainable forest management and ecosystem restoration in displacement contexts with a recently launched project “Greening the humanitarian response in displacement settings” in Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, supported by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).
Technology and innovation also play a key role in maximizing the environmental sustainability of humanitarian interventions by offering practical solutions. Cara Christine Tobin, Head of Water Sanitation Technology Programme and Lead of Energy and Environment Experts from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) shared concrete examples of projects carried out by the EPFL Essential Tech Center. For instance, they are assisting humanitarian organizations to reduce the carbon footprint of their interventions by developing the Green House Gas Emissions Calculator. Together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), EPFL is supporting a roadmap to reduce their e-waste from solar lanterns in refugee camps. Youth, often associated with their adeptness with technology, are also a driving force behind innovation by offering creative technological solutions to address the climate crisis, such as through EPFL’s Sustainable Shelter Application.
Mary Njenga, Research Scientist in Bioenergy of the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) in Nairobi, also stressed that evidence generation is key to ensure that governments and key stakeholders have access to data to inform their decisions for policymaking or designing interventions and programmes. Thus, partnerships with research institutions such as CIFOR – ICRAF who are producing relevant literature on nature-based solutions can support organizations with climate adaptation work in emergency and humanitarian settings.
A key theme that emerged was the significance of partnerships. Yukta Kumar, Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Officer from UNHCR Ethiopia, reminded that actors in the Humanitarian, Development, Peace Nexus and beyond must work collaboratively to mobilize urgent and ambitious climate action. To ensure long-term sustainability of the humanitarian interventions, governments must have a central role and take the lead in the processes. For example, in Nigeria, a partnership between FAO and UNHCR was instrumental in supporting refugees from Cameroon and host communities in engaging in agricultural livelihoods. Working closely with governments, UNHCR played its protection role and facilitated entry into the landscape and communities, while FAO stepped in to support communities to engage in agricultural livelihoods.
Another takeaway message was the need for a paradigm shift – refugees must be seen as part of the solution for sustainable landscapes. For instance, CIFOR – ICRAF is promoting women’s participation in natural resource management and bioeconomy, such as recovery of biochar from organic residues and recycling of grey wastewater. The approaches to address climate and environmental crises must be gender-responsive, nature-based and people-centered and must include everyone at the table, particularly youth and women, as the multidimensional and transboundary nature of the climate crisis calls for a multi-stakeholder approach across different sectors.