IFRC Global Plan 2022: ‘Scaling up climate action is an absolute priority’
by the Climate Centre
The IFRC late last month published its Global Plan 2022, detailing how it will help National Societies make progress on the most pressing humanitarian challenges, and highlighting work planned for this year, including by its reference centres.
Secretary General Jagan Chapagin said: “We are moving towards more Federation-wide planning to focus on National Society priorities, increase coordination, reduce duplication and cost; working together, with common purpose, to achieve results.”
He added in a special message: “Climate and environmental crises are changing the landscape of our world and putting millions at risk. We strive to reach 250 million people each year with climate adaptation and mitigation services to reduce suffering and vulnerability.”
The 2022 plan details the IFRC’s six Global Flagships: on local action, scaling up risk reduction, the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, cash, rolling back cholera, and epidemics and pandemics.
“Scaling up climate action is an absolute priority,” the IFRC plan says on the second of these.
“With predictions becoming a reality, in relation to the impacts of climate change, the unprecedented numbers of migrants and displaced people and public health crises, the need to act now is more urgent than ever before.
“To do so, every National Society must prepare, adapt and respond at levels previously unimagined.”
‘Systemic change’
Turning to specific plans for the year, the section devoted to climate emphasizes the findings of a study from September that since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate-related disasters have affected the lives of some 140 million people.
“The IFRC seeks to generate systemic and transformational change by integrating climate and environmental risk management across all programmes, operations and advocacy activities,” the Global Plan 2022 says.
The main focus will be to ensure National Societies have “the knowledge, tools and resources” to address crises. “The IFRC seeks to generate systemic and transformational change by integrating climate and environmental risk management across all programmes, operations and advocacy activities,” it says.
‘Every National Society must prepare,
adapt and respond at levels previously unimagined’
Invoking both the 2021 Climate and Environment Charter and the Movement’s Ambitions to address the climate crisis 2020, the IFRC adds that it will focus efforts on reducing the impacts of heatwaves, which it describes as “one of the most ignored but rapidly rising climate risks” – aiming to increase the number of people protected from heat in cities and towns to at least 250 million in 150 separate municipalities by 2025.
It will increase support to National Societies to implement “end-to-end early warning and anticipatory actions at scale, including forecast-based financing”, and address “slow-onset climate events, such as sea-level rise, desertification and drought which are leading to migration, displacement and the relocation of communities.”
The IFRC’s 2022 plan also summarizes the Climate Centre’s priority areas of work and those of other global, regional and National Society reference centres.
The IFRC’s Global Plan 2022 sets out how it will help National Societies make progress on the most pressing humanitarian challenges, with climate impacts high on the list. (Image: IFRC)