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On November 1st, 2022, Charter signatories released the following statement to decision-makers gathering at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Last year at COP26 in Glasgow we called on the international community to act urgently to address today’s existential climate and environmental crises. One year later those crises remain urgent, existential, and accelerating.
The IPCC’s latest report on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability leaves no doubt that climate change is contributing to humanitarian crises. It is already impacting and threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, often those who are already vulnerable and marginalized, and who have contributed to it the least. Humanitarians see this impact in our work every day. From flood and drought-related food and water insecurity, to rising sea levels threatening the lives of coastal communities, extreme heat and cold spells, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, the climate crisis is placing severe strains on people’s ability to cope and to the humanitarian sector’s ability to respond.
Our community of signatories has grown dramatically since the Charter was launched. We speak today for over 300 humanitarian organizations working in over 100 countries at local, national, and international scales. This reflects the humanitarian sector’s commitment to scale up to respond to needs, support those most at risk, and minimize our own impacts on the environment. We are determined to act, but we cannot do so alone.
Already, several major donors to the humanitarian system have affirmed their support as official supporters of the Charter. At COP27 we call on them and on all decision-makers to redouble efforts to avert the most disastrous consequences on people and their environment by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, to ensure humanitarian needs are met, and to provide the support people need to adapt to the present and growing threats that the climate and environmental crises pose to vulnerable communities around the world. We can no longer wait to act.
Signed,
Signatories to the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations