Climate change &
the Red Cross Red Crescent
Fleur Monasso, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
The Climate Centre supports the Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement and its partners
in reducing the impacts of climate change and
extreme weather events on vulnerable people.
Setup of the Climate Centre
• Foundation, with board composed of IFRC and NLRC
(to be expanded with a few more NSs)
• Small team, hosted by NLRC, based around the world
• Strong network, within RC Movement, and in
1. Capacity building and operational support
2. Mobilization of resources
3. Humanitarian diplomacy: int’l and nat’l climate policy
4. Communication/awareness raising
5. Analysis
6. New developments
IPCC:
AR4 (2007) and SREX (2012)
A changing climate leads to
changes
in
extreme
weather
and
climate
events
Climate
models
also
project
changes in
sea level rise,
shifting (rainy) seasons
and
melting glaciers
Pakistan
floods,
2010
6
million
left
homeless
Increasing
exposure
of people and assets has been
the major cause of changes in disaster losses
From 1970-2008, over
95%
of natural-disaster-related deaths occurred in
developing countries
Fatalities are higher in developing countries
Disaster trends
geo-physical
epidemics,
insect infestations
hydro-
meteorological
100
Globally, weather-related disasters doubled over the past two
decades
Climate change will to continue – putting increasing demand on
humanitarian organisations like the RC/RC Movement
What does climate change mean for Pakistan?
More extreme weather events, sea-level rise, human health,
glacier melt off, glacier lake outburst floods
[…] commitments were made to
address
climate change
in the following ways:
•
raise awareness
on climate change
• provide
humanitarian assistance
• improve
capacity to respond
•
decrease vulnerability of communities
most strongly affected
• integrate
climate risk management into
policies
and plans
• mobilise human and financial resources,
giving priority to
actions for the most
vulnerable
At the RCRC International Conference 2007 – ‘Together for Humanity’
International conference 2007
The Red Cross and Red Crescent commitments
Photo: IFRC
Commitments were made to address climate
change in the following ways:
• raise awareness on climate change
• provide humanitarian assistance
• improve capacity to respond
• decrease vulnerability of communities most
strongly affected
• integrate climate risk management into
policies and plans
• mobilise human and financial resources,
giving priority to actions for the most
vulnerable
Geneva,
Adaptation:
adjusting
and
preparing for
change
Strategy 2020
“We also contribute to mitigating
the progression of climate change
through advocacy and social
mobilization to promote
sustainable community
development that optimizes
communities’ carbon footprints”
Strategy 2020
“Our climate change adaptation
work is through scaling up disaster
risk reduction measures and
strengthening traditional methods
of coping with disasters that are
relevant in particular environmental
contexts”
Mitigation
:
tackling the
causes of
climate
change
‘Mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’
Changing patterns
affect our work:
Disaster Management
Food Security
Health
Water and Sanitation
Photo: Jakob Dall / Danish Red Cross
Photo: Olivier Matthys/IFRC
