Climate change

A man standing in an informal shelter in Ethiopia's Afar Region looks up at the gaping holes in the roof.

A man in his home in Ethiopia's Afar Region, which was destroyed by rain and floods. 5 April 2024. Weeks of heavy rainfall and flooding in the East Africa region has triggered widespread displacement with hundreds of thousands displaced across Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Photo: OCHA/Nitsebiho Asrat

The climate crisis is a humanitarian crisis. As humanitarian workers, we see the devastating impacts of every flood, heat wave, drought or super storm. Climate change not only increases humanitarian needs but also hinders response, impacts supply routes and raises commodity prices. And when shocks occur multiple times, climate change necessitates repeated and more agile action.

This reality aligns with recent warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC): impacts are increasing and there are limits to future adaptation. The IPCC estimates that up to 3.6 billion people live in hotspots of high vulnerability to climate change, largely in Africa, Central and South America, and South Asia.

Since 2006, we have spent an average of 27 per cent from the OCHA-managed Central Emergency Response Fund on extreme weather-related crises each year.