“As the environmental crisis deepens, humanitarian actors, from donors to local volunteers, are faced with a collective responsibility to ensure that their work does not further contribute to deteriorating the environment people live in and rely on for their livelihoods and, ultimately, their health and well-being. This calls for taking all necessary measures to reduce the climate and environmental footprint of humanitarian aid”1.
Given this responsibility, DG ECHO decided to develop resources to help raise awareness among humanitarian organizations about their impacts on the environment and the climate. A compendium was developed to provide examples of good practices that have been successfully tested by various organizations around the world. The compendium includes factsheets on 12 different projects. These have been chosen to inspire organizations who are curious about the technical and financial aspects of environmentally sustainable projects.
Objective of the session:
The objective of this session is to share lessons learned from three of these projects, and to allow practitioners to discuss their way of working and their own experiences. As a sector, it is important to be transparent about past mistakes and future opportunities. In this regard, humanitarians have everything to gain from learning collectively.
The session will provide an overview of the work that has been done on the compendium, and will explore what the sector still needs to do to integrate environmental sustainability into humanitarian practices.
Speakers
The session to be held on April 28, 2021 on Zoom from 12:00 to 13:00 (10:00-11:00 UTC) will include the following speakers:
Part I. Keynote opening
Keynote speaker: Samantha Brangeon (Researcher at Groupe URD) who led the work on the Compendium for DG ECHO.
Part II. Representatives from three of the organizations featured in the compendium:
1. Kathrine Alkjaersig Vad (Environment and Climate Change Adviser, ICRC) who will present ICRC’s Carbon Footprint exercise.
2. Emanuela Cattaneo (Regional Environmental Adviser, WFP) who will present WFP’s waste recycling initiative.
3. Marjolaine Bert (Founder and director of EKO!) who will present the use of Low tech with refugees in Lesbos.
Part III. End of session
Q and A Session – Questions and answers from the virtual audience
Moderator: Samantha Brangeon
