In an era where the planet’s climate is undergoing profound shifts, humanitarian efforts are evolving to address not just immediate crises but also the long-term vulnerabilities they exacerbate. This collection examines how organizations worldwide are adapting their programming to address the realities of climate change, drawing on diverse contexts where environmental pressures intersect with human needs. From the arid landscapes of Africa’s Sahel to the flood-prone deltas of South Asia, these initiatives underscore the need to integrate resilience-building into relief efforts. By examining practical examples, we gain insight into the broader implications for global aid strategies, emphasizing community involvement, technological integration, and cross-sector collaboration as key pillars for sustainable progress.
Foundations of Response: The Evolving Landscape of Humanitarian Climate Action
Over recent decades, the humanitarian sector has increasingly recognized climate change as a multiplier of existing vulnerabilities. In regions already grappling with conflict, poverty, and limited infrastructure, rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and extreme weather events compound the challenges. This recognition has prompted a shift from reactive aid to proactive measures that anticipate and mitigate impacts. Policy statements from major international bodies underscore this urgency, urging agencies to embed climate considerations into their core operations.
Yet, translating policy into practice remains a work in progress. Many organizations, which have long focused on emergency response, are now exploring what climate adaptation means in practice. This involves not only providing immediate relief but also fostering long-term resilience through activities like early warning systems, sustainable livelihoods, and community-led planning. The examples that follow illustrate this transition, offering lessons on how humanitarian programming can evolve to meet the demands of a changing world. Co-edited by experts in system reform and disaster mitigation, these narratives reveal emerging trends: a shift toward anticipatory action, deeper community engagement, and innovative partnerships that bridge the divides between humanitarian and development efforts.
Fortifying Health Amidst Weather Extremes: Lessons from Mali’s Sahel
In the vast, arid expanses of Mali’s Sahel region, where droughts have historically shaped life, climate change is intensifying threats to human health and survival. International Medical Corps, with over a decade of presence in the country, has witnessed firsthand how extreme weather—frequent floods, unrelenting heatwaves, and prolonged dry spells—exacerbates an already strained health system, which is plagued by underfunding and conflict. The under-five mortality rate stands alarmingly high, and access to care is limited, with many forgoing treatment due to financial barriers.
Recognizing these gaps, the organization launched a pilot in the Timbuktu region to build weather resilience. This involved comprehensive assessments, including desk reviews of climate projections and baseline surveys in health districts, which revealed vulnerabilities such as disease outbreaks and spikes in malnutrition during floods. Consultations with local authorities, health workers, and community volunteers were pivotal, ensuring the program aligned with ground realities.
The initiative focused on two core areas: strengthening health systems through preparedness planning and training, and raising community awareness on weather-health links. Workshops developed regional response plans for heat and floods, while trainings equipped professionals and volunteers to handle related conditions. Awareness campaigns encouraged eco-friendly behaviors, though sustaining change requires ongoing education.
Challenges emerged, including the novelty of the topic, which led to a lack of readily available resources, scattered data on weather-disease links, and the underrepresentation of women in training. Lessons include the value of practical demonstrations, seasonal planning to avoid extreme heat, and inclusive stakeholder engagement, including the traditional knowledge of nomadic groups. Integrating multi-sectoral approaches—linking health, nutrition, and water—proved essential, highlighting the need for anticipatory funding and layered risk management that combines preparedness with broader disaster reduction.
This Mali experience underscores a global truth: building health resilience in climate-vulnerable areas requires adaptive, community-centered strategies that evolve in response to emerging threats.
Harnessing Nature and Technology: Resilience Strategies in India’s Sundarbans Delta
The Sundarbans, a sprawling mangrove ecosystem that straddles India and Bangladesh, exemplifies the intricate balance between human life and nature under climate change. This UNESCO World Heritage site, home to unique biodiversity including coastal tigers and dolphins, supports millions through tourism and fishing. Yet, social and economic woes—poverty affecting nearly half the population, food shortages in most households, and widespread landlessness—compound environmental risks, such as rapid sea-level rise that exceeds global averages.
Humanitarian Aid International’s Building Climate Resilience project in West Bengal’s Gosaba block addresses these through a holistic lens. Needs assessments revealed priorities such as gender equity, livelihood enhancement, and disaster preparedness. Interventions blend technology and nature: drones map vulnerabilities, revealing erosion and shifts in salinity, which guide mangrove plantations that buffer storms and sequester carbon.
Over 70,000 saplings were planted, involving paid women workers, fostering economic gains alongside environmental protection. Community mobilization led to the formation of Village Disaster Management Forces, which were trained in response and awareness, proving vital during floods. Lightning, an often-overlooked hazard in thunderstorm-prone areas, was addressed through the use of arrestors and school campaigns.
This multifaceted approach—integrating drone tech, nature-based solutions, and grassroots action—has built resilience across five villages, benefiting hundreds. Lessons emphasize comprehensive needs analysis, the inclusion of women for equitable outcomes, and sustained monitoring to adapt to evolving threats, offering a model for delta regions worldwide facing similar climate pressures.
Anticipating Storms: Proactive Humanitarian Action in Bangladesh’s Cyclone Belt
Bangladesh’s deltaic terrain, with its dense population and extensive river networks, has long been vulnerable to natural hazards, which are now exacerbated by climate change. Rising seas, intensified cyclones, and erratic rainfall threaten food security, health, and livelihoods, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations, including people experiencing poverty.
The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society’s anticipatory action for cyclones exemplifies forward-thinking aid. Focusing on 14 vulnerable districts, the program utilizes impact-based assessments that consider not only storm risks but also potential damage to set triggers and actions. Early Action Protocols combine forecasts, preparedness plans, and pre-agreed funding to facilitate swift responses.
Activated during Cyclone Amphan in 2020, it enabled early evacuations and the delivery of supplies, saving lives and assets. Evaluations showed better shelter conditions and health outcomes for supported groups. Simulations refined skills, resources, and funding decentralization, highlighting the value of testing and experimentation.
This approach shifts from reaction to prevention, reducing cyclone tolls dramatically since historic disasters. It underscores the power of data-driven, collaborative strategies in climate-vulnerable nations, paving the way for scalable models against growing storm threats.
Pioneering Heat Response: Anticipatory Measures in Pakistan’s Scorching Plains
Pakistan’s diverse hazards—floods, droughts, and heatwaves—are exacerbated by climate change, affecting millions who rely on agriculture and livestock. The 2022 floods, deviating from norms, underscored the need for adaptive humanitarianism.
The READY Pakistan initiative, led by NGOs like Welthungerhilfe and Concern, develops anticipatory systems for heatwaves. Pillars include hazard prediction, contingency planning, flexible financing, and governance—triggers, refined from temperature to include humidity, forecast heat up to 10 days ahead.
Actions include distributing kits, disseminating information through media and ringtones, and establishing cooling centers with health support. Piloted in Balochistan and expanded, it has aided thousands. Lessons: localize triggers to contexts, fund small organizations for preparedness, foster collaboration, and iterate through reviews.
This program illustrates how anticipatory action builds resilience in heat-prone areas, emphasizing inclusive and evolving strategies to counter the human toll of the climate.
A Decade of Flood Fortification: Nepal’s Path to Resilient Communities
Nepal’s Himalayan topography amplifies climate risks, with warming altering precipitation and glacier dynamics, triggering floods and landslides. Recent events, such as the 2014 Jure landslide and the 2021 Melamchi floods, underscore the escalating dangers that impact lives, infrastructure, and downstream communities.
Practical Action’s flood early warning systems have saved countless lives since 2008, combining technology with community mobilization efforts. Community Disaster Management Committees conduct annual mocks, testing warnings via SMS, sirens, and evacuations. Studies confirm their effectiveness in reducing losses.
The Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities tool empowers local communities to assess and advocate for their resilience needs in planning. Recent innovations include index-based flood insurance, which compensates farmers based on triggers such as rainfall thresholds, simplifying claims, and fostering financial security.
Livelihood diversification—through training in non-farm skills—further bolsters resilience, improving food security and reducing migration. Nepal’s experiences demonstrate that integrated, community-led approaches, which influence policy and scale innovations, are vital for mountainous regions facing amplified climate threats.
Weaving Resilience in Conflict Zones: Niger’s Integrated Approach
In Niger, climate risks—such as droughts, floods, and degradation—intersect with conflict, eroding livelihoods and access to essential resources. High poverty and insecurity limit adaptation, heightening competition for resources.
The International Committee of the Red Cross’s conflict-climate-resilience program builds on long-term aid, integrating environmental considerations into its approach. Studies with local experts informed activities such as installing firewall strips to protect grazing lands, land rehabilitation, and the use of fuel-efficient stoves, which reduce deforestation.
Pilots in Diffa and Tillaberi show promise: dikes protect against floods, vaccinations sustain livestock, and water monitoring enhances management. Lessons emphasize learning from monitoring, local partnerships for sustainability, and development funding for lasting impact.
While humanitarian efforts provide vital support, broader adaptation requires scaling through development actors, addressing gaps in water and energy infrastructure amid conflict dynamics.
Empowering Local Guardians: Turkana County’s Climate Resilience Journey
Kenya’s arid north, exemplified by Turkana County, faces acute climate impacts: droughts decimating livestock, floods disrupting lives, and rising temperatures straining resources. Pastoralist economies are particularly vulnerable.
Sustainable Approaches for Community Empowerment and DanChurchAid’s project bolsters resilience through demonstration farms, apiculture, and fishing support. Training in conflict resolution addresses resource disputes, fostering peace.
Successes include increased production and income, with groups achieving financial break-even and diversification. Challenges such as water scarcity underscore the need for improved infrastructure. Lessons: locally led initiatives, ongoing training, and multistakeholder collaboration are key to sustainable adaptation in ASALs.
Voices from the Margins: Women Leading Climate Adaptation in Northern Kenya
Northern Kenya’s arid lands, home to pastoralists, are experiencing rapid warming, which exacerbates droughts and floods. Women, reliant on climate-sensitive livelihoods, bear disproportionate burdens: nutrient shortages, water-fetching risks, and increased violence.
Womankind Kenya empowers through emergency aid, resilience-building, and justice advocacy. Survivor-led responses fund community plans, while livelihood diversification reduces vulnerability. Advocacy amplifies voices via trainings and arts, influencing policies.
Lessons: Tailor communication to local realities, use diverse media, and bridge traditional knowledge with technical terms for effective engagement.
Grassroots Defenses: Local Actions Against India’s Heatwaves
India’s escalating heatwaves, linked to climate change, devastate agriculture and lives. The All India Disaster Mitigation Institute supports small farmers through relief, resilience-building, and women-centered adaptation initiatives.
Appreciative inquiry promotes farmer-led practices, such as sustainable seed and water management. For urban informal businesses, cooling interventions reduce risks. Lessons: Inclusive, lateral learning bridges gaps, emphasizing women’s roles in holistic adaptation.
Crafting Safe Havens: Innovative Shelters for Rohingya Refugees
Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps, hosting Rohingya refugees, face climate extremes amid material restrictions. The International Organization for Migration’s lime-stabilized soil shelters enhance durability, fire resistance, and comfort by utilizing local resources.
Benefits include thermal insulation, flood resilience, and sustainability. Lessons: Community engagement, local expertise, training, and communication ensure adoption and scalability.
Cash as Catalyst: Climate Justice Through Transfers in Malawi
Malawi’s recurrent floods leave people with low incomes vulnerable to insecurity. GiveDirectly’s lump-sum cash enables relocation post-Cyclone Freddy, fostering autonomy and resilience.
Key takeaways: Government facilitation, cultural preservation, and community-driven aid drive success, highlighting the role of cash in equitable adaptation.
Beyond Endurance: Rethinking Adaptation’s Endless Cycle
Adaptation and resilience, often portrayed as empowerment, burden the vulnerable without systemic support. In Pakistan, communication shifts toward inclusive strategies, but global inaction perpetuates inequities. Actual progress demands holding those in power accountable for climate carnage.
