An ALNAP Lessons Paper

A major reform of the humanitarian sector is currently under way, focusing increasingly on the prevention of crises rather than on providing relief once crises have occurred. This article examines whether and how this new humanitarian approach can also improve people’s ability to adapt to climate change. We identify three approaches central to this ‘new humanitarianism’, namely resilience, disaster risk reduction and early warning systems, and discuss them in relation to broad principles for adaptation to climate change. We find that, despite encouraging potential and a lot of common ground, key barriers and hindrances still exist, such as inertia of organisational cultures and existing financial models. We suggest that realising this potential will require acknowledging and addressing the multitude of local social, historical and political inequities that drive both humanitarian crises and vulnerability to climate change.

49, 2018

Sciences (NMBU). Noragric's activities include research, education and assignments, focusing particularly, but not exclusively, on developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Noragric Reports present findings from various studies and assignments, including programme appraisals and evaluations. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this publication are entirely those of the authors and cannot be attributed directly to the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (NMBU/Noragric). Nagoda, Sigrid, Mosberg, Marianne and Eriksen, Siri. Humanitarian policy and practice in a changing climate-Guiding principles for practitioners.

2015

ALNAP is a unique system-wide network dedicated to improving humanitarian performance through increased learning and accountability. www.alnap.org CDA focuses on improving the effectiveness of international actors who provide humanitarian assistance, engage in peace practice, and are involved in supporting sustainable development. www.cdacollaborative.org. Have you read the practitioners guidance that accompanies this study? www.alnap.org/feedback-loop

Humanitarian organizations, and the vulnerable communities they serve, are dealing today with the life-threatening consequences of poor design and planning. Climate change is not only taking place but also quite literally "taking places," imposing more frequent and intense events such as floods, hurricanes, droughts, and heat waves on built environments and people that are not prepared to deal with them. Staff and volunteers working in disaster management are at the forefront of the current climate crisis, but the complex relationships between place and climate require that humanitarian organizations rethink the way they will work in the future. They must forge new partnerships that address the root causes of the problem: not just by reducing the emissions that result in global warming, but also by reversing the social construction of vulnerability.

Pardee Paper

Future atmospheric conditions are increasingly predictable as a result of scientific and technological advances. From short-term storm forecasts to long-term climate trends, humanitarian organizations now have an unprecedented ability to anticipate threats to people at risk. At the same time, vulnerability patterns are shifting as a result of ongoing processes such as urbanization and the AIDS pandemic, which present complex and dynamic interactions with climate risks. The future looks different: more natural hazards combined with new vulnerabilities will continue to increase the workload of already overstretched humanitarian organizations. Against this background, the complexity and range of possible humanitarian decisions is rapidly expanding, owing to progress in technologies to obtain, process, communicate, and use relevant information, as well as new financial instruments, trends in academic institutions and other promising developments. Humanitarian organizations are adapting to new climate risks, vulnerability patterns, and decision capacity. Yet, regrettably, their efforts seem to be outpaced by the changing threats and opportunities. In order to reduce this gap, it will not be enough to simply train existing staff on new tools, or expand the staff and volunteer base: the humanitarian sector needs to fundamentally restructure its relationship to predictable climate-related threats, evolving towards knowledge-based entities that can rapidly absorb and act upon the increasingly reliable information about changing risks. This will require not just partnering with key stakeholders, but essentially reconfiguring decision-making processes. Many of the potentially catastrophic climate-related disasters could be managed by the humanitarian sector through adequate monitoring of key system variables, and a systematic approach for preparing to act in response to the many plausible early signs of problems. The tasks ahead are massive; it is imperative to think ambitiously.

2016

On behalf of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian leadership and president Mahmoud Abbas, I am delighted to confirm that on the 12 th of December 2015 at the 21 st Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC in Paris, the State of Palestine submitted the instrument of accession to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. On the 17 th of March 2016, the State of Palestine officially became the 197 th party to the UNFCCC. It also ratified the Paris Agreement on the 22 nd of April, 2016 and was one of the first countries to do so. This marks the end of Palestine being an "Observer State" to the convention. The COP 21 marked a historic climate agreement, and the Palestinian people are also celebrating by joining the convention. We are so proud of this achievement. This INCR, which was developed in accordance with the recommended and applicable guidelines, highlights the key outcomes of our work on GHG inventories, analysis of mitigation and adaptation potentials, making it a vital source of information about GHGs emissions, the measures we are taking to tackle climate change, and the technical and institutional challenges faced. Palestine has developed this national communication as it recognizes the importance of better understanding the challenges of climate change. The process of developing this INCR involved all national stakeholders and experts. It was a two-year long process supported by UNDP/PAPP and the Government of Belgium and included a strong component of national capacity building.

IDS Bulletin

Over the last decade, Pakistan has faced several major disasters, involving both natural hazards and conflict. These crises prompted tremendous national and international response, and triggered the Government of Pakistan to establish new institutions, policies, strategies and action plans. Donors, humanitarian and development organisations, however, tend to follow their own policies, plans and interests, which may be quite different from the government entities dealing with humanitarian efforts, climate change and disaster. To what extent do these different perspectives affect the ability of the government to respond effectively and coordinate with humanitarian and development organisations during different phases of a crisis? This article examines the existing institutions, policies and perspectives that guide how government, humanitarian and development organisations, and community members understand risk and vulnerability, and respond to climate changes. It suggests how knowledge sharing and coordination might be improved to better face the challenges of risk and vulnerability reduction in the future.

… Washington, DC, USA, 2007

The goals and methods of climate change adaptation and development are strongly complementary. The impacts of current climate hazards and projected climate change threaten to undermine development achievements and stall progress toward important goals. Adaptation can reduce these threats. In turn, development, if appropriately planned, can help to enable climate change adaptation. Integrating adaptation with development planning and actions can exploit the complementarities to advance both adaptation and development goals. To be effective, integration needs to engage ministries that are responsible for development, finance, economic sectors, land and water management, and provision of public health and other services. It is in agencies such as these that key decisions are taken about the allocation of financial and other resources. And it is within these agencies and among their stakeholders where much of the sector-specific expertise resides that must be engaged.

Humanitarian crises appear dramatic, overwhelming and sudden, with aid required immediately to save lives. Whereas climate change is about changing hazard patterns and crises are in reality rarely unexpected, with academic researchers and humanitarian and development organisations warning about possible risks for months before they take place. While humanitarian organisations deal directly with vulnerable populations, interventions are part of global politics and development pathways that are simultaneously generating climate change, inequities and vulnerability. So what is the level of convergence between humanitarian interventions and efforts to support adaptation to climate change, and what lessons can be drawn from current experience on the prospects for reducing the risk of climate change causing increased burdens on humanitarian interventions in the future? This IDS Bulletin is a call for increasing engagement between humanitarian aid and adaptation interventions to support deliberate transformation of development pathways. Based on studies from the ‘Courting Catastrophe’ project, contributors argue that humanitarian interventions offer opportunities for a common agenda to drive transformational adaptation. Changes in political and financial frameworks are needed to facilitate longer-term actions where demands move from delivering expert advice and solutions to vulnerable populations to taking up multiple vulnerability knowledges and making space for contestation of current development thinking. Yet while the humanitarian system could drive transformative adaptation, it should not bear responsibility alone. In this issue, alternative pathways and practical ways to support local alternatives and critical debates around these are illustrated, to demonstrate where humanitarian actions can most usefully contribute to transformation.