Statement by the Signatories to the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations ahead of COP29 – World

Attachments

As we prepare for the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) of the UNFCCC that will take place in November in Baku, Azerbaijan; the over 440 Signatories to the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations are responding to increased impacts of climate change on the vulnerable communities we serve around the world, especially those in conflict, fragile and protracted crises settings.
We have seen and are responding to an increase in extreme weather events such as flash floods, high intensity cyclones, extreme heatwaves, as well as multi-hazard events; to slow-onset impacts such as multiyear droughts, desertification and sea level rise. These events are disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations, such as women, children and youth, people with disabilities, elderly, LGBTQI+, displaced people, and communities that are marginalized due to deeply rooted inequalities.
These impacts have left communities reeling with loss of lives, homes and livelihoods, food insecurity, water scarcity, losses and damages to crops, homes, indigenous and local knowledge, habitats and ways of life. The climate crisis, when compounded by conflict or political, social, and economic insecurity, has already stretched communities’ abilities to cope and recover, leaving many in desperate situations, including being displaced multiple times, and for some, with options of no-return.

As decision-makers gather at Baku this year for COP29:

• We call for more ambitious and concrete actions to support communities who have contributed least to the climate crisis and are bearing the greatest impact, and encourage investment in locally-led early warning and early action. Importantly, we must ensure that nobody is left behind.

• We ask that decision-makers redouble efforts to avert and minimize the impacts of climate change and to keep global temperature rise to below 1.5C by including explicit commitments in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advancing strong mitigation actions, including ending fossil fuel expansion and foster a just economic transition.

• We call on Parties to seriously consider the human and environmental cost and impacts of war and to prevent the escalation of humanitarian and climate crises.

• With the window for adaptation closing in many contexts, and with losses and damages caused by the climate crisis increasing, we call on Parties to fulfill their commitments made at Paris in 2015 and ensure that the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to be agreed at COP29 includes adequate, predictable, additional, and quality financing for all areas of climate action – mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.

• We ask to prioritize access to funding to countries and communities most impacted by climate change, including to civil society and local actors, so that they can build resilience, adapt to, and recover from increasing climate impacts. In this regard, we welcome the COP29 Presidency’s dedication of a day on Peace, Relief, and Recovery, giving space for the voices and perspectives of the most affected.

• We call on decision-makers to ensure that these vulnerable communities are actively included in the decision-making processes throughout COP29, and particularly in regard to accessing funds.

Signed,
Signatories to the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations