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Climate change, conflict and humanitarian action

The ill-fated Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) experience showed that failure to tackle the drivers of conflict and crisis inhibits development progress. The current climate emergency means that more people than ever before are affected by climate-related humanitarian risks – especially in already fragile contexts. Science shows that extreme weather events - which drive humanitarian needs - are set to increase. As a result, more countries are slipping into fragility, further reducing their ability to cope when the next disaster strikes. Meeting Agenda 2030 targets therefore requires learning from the missteps of the MDGs. It requires a thorough understanding of the two-way relationship between climate and conflict risks and for this to be reflected in a new way of working on humanitarian response and sustainable development.

The publication addresses four questions:

  • Why consider climate change, conflict and humanitarian action?
  • How do climate change and conflict affect humanitarian need?
  • What are challenges for addressing climate, peacebuilding and humanitarian action?
  • How can humanitarian responses in climate and conflict affected contexts be improved?

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Climate Change, Conflict and Humanitarian Action_final.pdf