OCHA Position Paper on climate change

OCHA Position Paper Climate Change – version 4, 29 April 2014

Climate change affects the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration and timing of extreme weather, and can result in unprecedented extreme weather and climate events. The UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon has made addressing climate change a top priority and an important component of his Five Year Action Agenda. He refers to climate change as the “the defining issue of our time” and has invited key stakeholders and leaders to a Climate Summit in September 2014. This paper outlines the role OCHA can play in addressing climate change challenges linked to increased disaster frequency and impact, conflict and internal displacement, compound crises and chronic vulnerability.

OCHA’s FIVE ACTIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE 1.

Advocate stronger for the humanitarian consequences of climate change

Current debates on disaster risk reduction and resilience at the World Humanitarian Summit, Climate Change Framework negotiations, and the post-2015 development agenda, including that of small-island developing states and least developed countries, can be strengthened with key messages on the humanitarian consequences of climate change and the role humanitarian actors can play in managing risk of crises. Climate change is already altering the landscape for humanitarian action, meaning that humanitarians have a stake in a convention on climate change. The humanitarian community should mobilise its stakeholders – in particular member states – to commit to a global climate framework. In order to anticipate and reduce the risk of humanitarian crises, the international community needs to adapt its protection legal mechanisms in order to be able to respond effectively to the protection needs of people that will continue to be displaced due to the impact of climate-related events. Tailored messages should be developed; focusing on how comprehensive climate risk management can decrease humanitarian suffering and vulnerability and support resilience-building. 2.

Embed crisis risk management into humanitarian risk analysis and planning

It is imperative to include climate change implications such as environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities into risk analysis and planning tools, including the InfoRM index for risk management1. A strategic OCHA and its partners need to invest in analysis, anticipation and management of both current and future climate risks by translating climate change into practical humanitarian action at country-level, including by aligning humanitarian emergency preparedness activities with climate change predictions and associated national adaptation plans. This includes exploring the combination of global-level prioritization with the national and local life-saving impact of community safety nets and risk transfer mechanisms such as micro-insurance. 3. 1

Review humanitarian early warning and early action

InfoRM is the first global, objective and transparent tool for understanding and measuring the risk of humanitarian crises. It can be used to inform decisions about anticipating, mitigating and preparing for humanitarian emergencies. Specifically, it can inform the development of shared priorities and objective allocation of resources, as well as monitor risk trends over time. InfoRM is open to everyone and currently a global model, but its methodology is flexible and the index can be adapted to specific organisations’ needs and integrated into their planning and decision-making or to use at sub-national level with a focus on specific issues. More information available at http://inform.gdacs.org/

The suitability of the humanitarian response procedures to address climate-related disasters should be assessed. With climate-related disasters like drought and floods on the rise, efforts should be stepped up for the humanitarian community to analyse, prepare for, and respond to these types of disasters in a coordinated manner. OCHA has a role to play in ensuring coherence between various agency initiatives (such as those on displacement and food security) and ensuring that the outcomes of these are incorporated into inter-agency policy and guidance, where relevant. 4.

Advocating for making humanitarian financing mechanisms fit-for-purpose

Post-disaster recovery and reconstruction provides an opportunity for reducing future climaterelated disaster risk and improving adaptive capacity, which requires funding. OCHA should ensure that existing funding mechanisms are better informed by risk analysis. A greater share of core funding and official development aid should be channelled to activities that support humanitarian risk management, and to countries at higher risk of humanitarian crises – the current mismatch should be addressed. OCHA should continue working with Governments, donors, funds and development actors on the issue of resilience funding, ensuring that humanitarian and development funding is coherent and contributes to addressing both climatic and non-climatic risks. Humanitarian appeals should be aligned with longer-term development objectives, including climate change adaptation financing as well as loss and damage mechanisms. OCHA should engage in discussions on how to use humanitarian financing tools to address loss and damage, where and as relevant. 5.

Engage strategically with countries at high climate-vulnerability and humanitarian risk

In countries at high risk of climate-related humanitarian disasters, where OCHA has presence, OCHA must engage in partnership with national governments and development actors to ensure that humanitarian and development teams are strengthened through the establishment of joint planning and programming cells. Joint initiatives contribute to crisis anticipation, prevention, mitigation and recovery. Humanitarian action represents early action in reducing disaster risks and adapting to climate change.

KEY MESSAGES OCHA’s advocacy role is guided by OCHA’s Strategic Framework for 2014-2017, in which OCHA aspires to a world where: -

People are better able to withstand shocks; Governments are aware of risks, are well prepared, and are able to respond to disasters International assistance is quick, efficient and appropriate.

These converge with the OCHA 2014-2017 advocacy strategy which posits resilience as an overarching priority. The increased focus on climate change leading up to the Paris COP represents an opportunity for engagement and partnerships with Governments, donors and partners on the humanitarian implications of climate change, as well as on the link between disaster impact with climate hazards and their interaction with vulnerability and exposure. The fact that many current emergencies are related to extreme weather and climate events, provides an opportunity to bring the human dimension to the climate agenda, as highlighted in the case of the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines at the Warsaw COP. The compounded effect of climate-related natural disasters and conflict are already causing the displacement of millions of people worldwide. The international community does not yet have a legal instrument to accord refugee status to people displaced by climate-related changes in their country of origin. It is likely that displacement trends will continue to keep rising, so advocating for the adaptation of the legal framework to protect people displaced by climate should be a preparedness priority for OCHA. The international community should not wait until climate-related

massive displacement becomes a humanitarian crisis worldwide. It needs to collectively start planning for population movements in anticipation of the impact of climate change. Climate-related disasters are on the rise and will change the future of humanitarian crises Climate change and its consequences will be an increasing burden on humanitarian systems through the increased vulnerability and exposure of large populations – which is expected to slow economic growth and create new pockets of poverty. This is likely to be further exacerbated by other global challenges and processes such as rapid unplanned urbanization and population growth as well as environmental degradation, which may generate further. Climate change has already begun to affect crop yields, will drive population displacement and will increase the risk of violent conflicts2. With climate change as one of the main drivers of disaster risk, it will affect the operating environment for humanitarian assistance: where and how it is provided. Risk management and vulnerability reduction help analyze, anticipate and address the impact and compound effects of climate change and extreme weather events, and support effective decision-making in the context of uncertainty3. Only by better analysis and management of crisis risks that may lead to crisis can we improve humanitarian action The OCHA study “Saving Lives Today and Tomorrow: Managing the Risk of Humanitarian Crises” makes the case for a shift towards a more anticipatory and preventative approach to humanitarian action. Better risk management includes taking into account the consequences of failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation in humanitarian preparedness and planning.4 Potential obstacles for effective risk management such as institutional, political and behavioral challenges must be dully taken into account in action plans, with clear strategies and new incentives to for timely action. Risk models and triggers must be more sophisticated and there must be clear processes and mechanisms for acting upon identified risks. We need to improve the humanitarian system’s forecasting of slowonset events, including droughts and floods, which are expected to increase5. Countries at high risk of climate-related disasters need systematic and long term support in order to increase their resilience Climate change affects the most vulnerable, who have limited or no access to decision-making to influence policies and are susceptible to the full impact of extreme weather events. Adapting to climate change not only entails developing institutional and financial mechanisms, but also demands addressing underlying vulnerabilities. Climate change adaptation is closely linked to the topic of resilience. Building resilience means developing capacity to better manage risks; addresses vulnerability; and respond to shocks when they occur, and to use the recovery period for initiating change.6 It is a long-term, development-oriented process, which requires commitment of all relevant 2

IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (IPCC WGII AR5) Available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/ 3

Report of the UN Secretary-General, “International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development”, 31 May 2013, available at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/N1335179.pdf 4 OCHA, Saving Lives Today and Tomorrow: Managing the Risk of Humanitarian Crises, 2014, available at: https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/OCHA%20SLTT%20Web%20Final%20Single.PDF 5 According to the IPCC SREX report, it is likely that the frequency of heavy precipitation will increase in the 21 st century over many areas of the globe. In addition droughts are expected to intensify in the 21st century in some seasons and areas (medium confidence, where definitional issues, lack of observational data and the inability of models to include all factors that influence droughts preclude stronger confidence than medium in flood projections). IPCC, 2012: IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). Available at: http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/ 6 Resilience is also central to the Common Framework on Building Capacities for Preparedness, which the IASC has adopted as part of the transformative agenda to provide comprehensive inter-agency preparedness support to Member States. The Political Champions Group for Disaster Resilience is used as a vehicle for focusing inter-agency attention on selected countries.

actors. It is a Government responsibility supported by both humanitarian and development programming, requiring closer integration of national, development and humanitarian planning processes, strategies and resource mobilization that link short-, medium- and long-term interventions, as well as the building of national, subnational and local capacities7

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Report of the UN Secretary-General, “International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development”, 31 May 2013, available at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/N1335179.pdf

ANNEX 1. CLIMATE, DISASTERS AND VULNERABILITY Climate-related disasters exact a heavy toll on people and economies and climate change has the potential to exacerbate the impacts of disasters, both climatic and non-climatic through direct impacts and by exacerbating vulnerabilities of disaster-affected communities8. In 2012 alone 32.4 million people in 82 countries were newly displaced by sudden-onset natural disasters, when the total from 2008 – 2012 was 144 million. In 2012, 98 % of this displacement was triggered by climate and weather related hazards such as flood, storms and wildfires9. The frequency, intensity and economic losses of climate-related disasters have steadily increased over the past few decades, stretching the response capacities of governments and humanitarian organizations10. The projected increase in population displacement and the increased risk of violent conflicts in the form of civil war and inter-group violence have serious implications for the future of humanitarian crisis management11. Globally, climate-related disasters including floods, droughts, cyclones, heat waves and mudslides cause tens of thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of injuries, and billions of dollars in economic losses each year. It is estimated that by 2070, almost all cities with the top ten exposure to flood risk will be located in developing countries, and that by the same year the population living in a 100-year flood plain will have risen from today’s 40 million to 150 million people12. While it is difficult to say with any certainty that climate change is responsible for any one extreme weather event, a number of observed trends point to increases in disaster risk as a result of climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change will affect the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration, timing and geographical distribution of natural hazards, and can result in unprecedented extreme weather and climate events. These impacts will vary greatly across the regions13. The latest analysis by IPCC underlines that exposure and vulnerability, not hazards, are the main drivers of risk accumulation. Exposure and vulnerability is dynamic and varies across temporal and spatial scales, and is highly dependent on economic, social, geographic, demographic, cultural, institutional, governance, and environmental factors. Individuals and communities are differentially exposed and vulnerable based on inequalities expressed through levels of wealth and education, disability, and health status, as well as gender, age, class, and other social and cultural characteristics. Settlement patterns, population growth, rapid urbanization, and changes in socioeconomic conditions are all influencing exposure and vulnerability to climate extremes14, with the poorest and most vulnerable expected to suffer the most. This reaffirms the importance of disaster risk reduction and risk management as a way of coping with increased climate risk, and of the need to include these elements into development and climate change adaptation plans. The increasing human and economic cost and toll of disasters should be a significant incentive for governments and humanitarian organizations to focus more of their attention on linking the global 8

For example, the resilience of many ecosystems is likely to be exceeded by 2100 by an unprecedented combination of change in climate, associated disturbances (e.g., flooding, drought, wildfire, insects, ocean acidification) and other global change drivers (e.g., land-use change, pollution, over-exploitation of resources) (high confidence). (IPCC, Climate Change 2007:Synthesis Report, available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_synthesis_report.htm 9 Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, 2013: Global Estimates 2012: People displaced by disasters. Available at: http://www.internaldisplacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/99E6ED11BB84BB27C1257B6A0035FDC4/$file/global-estimates-2012-may2013.pdf 10 Typhoon Haiyan was the most powerful typhoon ever recorded to hit land, and called a wake-up call by the UN Secretary-General. UN News Centre. Typhoon Haiyan wake-up call to speed up Climate Control Efforts – Ban. Available from: www.un.org/apps/news//story.asp?NewsID=46520&Cr=haiyan&Cr1= 11 IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (IPCC WGII AR5) Available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/ 12 UN-Habitat, Cities and Climate Change: global Report on human settlements 2011, available at: http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=9599&catid=7&typeid=46 13 IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (Fourth Assessment Report). Available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg2.htm 14 IPCC, 2012: IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). Available at: http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/

climate change agenda and policy work with humanitarian consequences. Closer collaboration between humanitarian, disaster risk reduction, sustainable development and climate change communities is needed to ensure that the multiple feedback mechanisms between environment, climate, disasters and development are adequately addressed. The international political response to climate change began with the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, which sets out a framework for action aimed at stabilising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases to avoid 'dangerous anthropogenic interference' with the climate system. The UNFCCC entered into force in 1994 and now has 195 parties. A variety of financial mechanisms have been set up to fulfil the implementation of the convention. These include operations by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), as well as set up of specialized funds and establishment of mechanisms like the Kyoto protocol, the technology mechanism15 and REDD16 policies17. Recent years have seen increased attention to the role of climate change adaptation18; including the adoption of the Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF)19. Currently negotiations are ongoing, with the hope of concluding a legally binding global agreement in Paris in 2015. At the Warsaw Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2013, which convened just days after Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, the Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage20 was established - opening up opportunities for Parties to address losses and damages and related costs of humanitarian needs caused by climate impacts, to which they are unable to adapt21.

Want to know more? 

Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014);

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Saving Lives Today and Tomorrow; Managing the Risk of Humanitarian Crisis by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2014);

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Changing climates, moving people: Framing migration, displacement and planned relocation. Policy Brief No. 8 by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (2013);

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Keeping up with Megatrends; the implications of climate change and urbanization for environmental emergency preparedness and response. A report prepared for OCHA and UNEP upon request of the Advisory Group on Environmental Emergencies by the Environmental Law Institute (2012);

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A Technology Mechanism was established by Parties at the 16th session of the COP in Cancun in 2010 to facilitate the implementation of enhanced action on technology development and transfer to support action on mitigation and adaptation. http://unfccc.int/ttclear/templates/render_cms_page?TEM_home 16 Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, known as REDD+, is a mechanism whereby developing countries are compensated for keeping forests standing, thereby reducing emissions caused by deforestation. 17 Information on climate change financing can be found on http://unfccc.int/cooperation_and_support/financial_mechanism/items/2807.php 18 http://unfccc.int/adaptation/items/4159.php 19 The Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF) was adopted by Parties at the 2010 Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico (COP 16/ CMP 6). In the Agreements, Parties affirmed that adaptation must be addressed with the same level of priority as mitigation. https://unfccc.int/adaptation/items/5852.php 20 These residual impacts are divided into rapid onset impacts (mainly extreme events) and slow onset impacts (like glacier melt, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, long-lasting climate shifts leading to desertification etc.). The type of loss and damages, as well as what type of slow onset events are covered under loss and damage, and the extent to which standard disaster risk reduction tools could be used to address these, is something which still needs to be sorted out. Discussions between development, humanitarian and disaster risk reduction actors have taken place to explore how the funding mechanisms of the respective systems can be made complementary. https://unfccc.int/files/meetings/warsaw_nov_2013/decisions/application/pdf/cop19_lossanddamage.pdf 21 The new mechanism falls under the Cancun Adaptation Framework but is independent of the Adaptation Committee. In 2014 an Interim Executive committee will work to develop specific recommendations on loss and damage which will be presented at COP20 in Peru in December 2014. At the same time, the creation of a new mechanism opens up questions as to what extent it will fit into, complement and support existing humanitarian, development and climate change adaptation financing mechanisms.

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Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2012);