The Intersection of the Climate Crisis and Humanitarian Action: Engagement in UN Climate Change Conferences So Far and What It Means Ahead of COP29

In March 1995, the first United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, COP1, was held in Berlin, Germany. Since then, a UN Climate Change Conference has taken place annually – with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – to discuss crucial topics related to climate change. These annual conferences started as small working sessions, with only 3,969 individuals attending the first COP in 1995 (UNFCCC, 1995), and have since grown to be the largest annual conference held under the UN. To put it into perspective, last year’s conference, COP28, had 83,844 people registered to attend in person and a further 2,089 people participating virtually (UNFCCC, 2023).  

Participants at COP include diverse actors such as government representatives, UN agencies, civil society organisations, the private sector, youth, Indigenous peoples, media, climate scientists, academics, sector actors and more. Among them are humanitarian actors, who have increasingly engaged in the UNFCCC conferences in recent years to bring attention to the humanitarian impacts of climate change.  

Those caught in humanitarian crises tend to be the ones who contribute the least to global warming yet are the most vulnerable to its impacts (OCHA, 2022). In 2022, of the 15 countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis, 12 had an internationally led humanitarian response (OCHA, 2022).  

The phrase “the climate crisis is a humanitarian crisis” has gained popularity over recent years to demonstrate how climate change has become a top driver of humanitarian needs. At COP28, it was the first time that humanitarian action had a dedicated place in the official COP programme with a ‘Relief, Recovery, and Peace’ thematic day (which is expected to remain in this year’s agenda for COP29) and the launch of the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace. The Declaration is a non-binding call to action outside the formal UNFCCC negotiations for climate action and finance to reach those who are highly vulnerable to climate change and threatened or affected by fragility, conflict, or severe humanitarian needs (COP28, 2023). 

This creation of a dedicated thematic day as part of the COP programme and the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace, are important steps towards greater recognition of the intersection between humanitarian action and climate change. However, the work does not stop here. To address the compounding impacts of the climate crisis on humanitarian needs and prevent climate-related hazard scenarios from turning into disasters, humanitarian actors need to shift their way of working – away from response towards greater prevention and protection.  

In 2019, IFRC reported that by 2050, 200 million people every year could need international humanitarian aid due to a combination of climate-related disasters and the socioeconomic impact of climate change. This is almost twice the estimated number of people today who need help from the international humanitarian system because of floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires (IFRC, 2019).  

COP29 serves as an important opportunity for humanitarian actors to continue to engage in climate discussions to highlight humanitarian perspectives of the climate crisis, share learning from humanitarian experiences, and advocate for more coordinated and proactive humanitarian action.  

The intersection of the climate crisis and humanitarian action is increasingly evident, with research commissioned by Start Network in 2023 exemplifying how “The impacts of climate change loss and damage will lead to increased demand for humanitarian assistance”. As a global network of over 100 local, national and international non-governmental organisations focused on system change, Start Network has a responsibility to advocate for change on how we respond to one of our most pressed challenges, climate change. 

Start Network will therefore be engaging in COP 29 by attending the conference and sharing messages and research in the lead up to the event. Specifically, we will be sharing our Network’s work on anticipatory action, which we recognise as critical way to reduce humanitarian impacts of climate-related hazards and as a way to address losses and damages.