Quantifying climate change-relevant humanitarian programming and spending across five countries with high vulnerability to disaster

Abstract

Climate change is increasing the severity and the frequency of natural hazards and associated disasters worldwide, yet there is little data tracking how and whether it is being addressed by humanitarian assistance initiatives. Drawing on publicly available United Nations programme data and vulnerability indexes, this study pilots a novel approach to identifying and quantifying the prevalence of climate change-related humanitarian programmes from 2016–18 in five disaster-affected countries. The funding levels of proposed and undertaken interventions were analysed within specific programmatic sub-areas and across clusters. The study found that 1.8 per cent (99 of 5,558) of projects included in humanitarian proposals reviewed during the research have a climate change-related component. Of 1,361 funded projects, 40 of these were climate change-related and received funding. The methodologies tested here to assess and classify climate change-related humanitarian programmes could be expanded to support further tracking of humanitarian responses to climate change across operational contexts.