Annual Report 2016

PREFACE

As the year 2016 drew to a close, we faced what UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien would tell the Security Council was the “largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations”. Much though of this food-security emergency was the result of conflict – in Yemen, Somalia and South Sudan, three countries he had just visited.
But also on Mr O’Brien’s acute list was Kenya, with millions of people affected. Attribution scientists later concluded the drought there was actually fairly frequent and that rising temperatures may have added to the problem.

With a slightly different humanitarian geography in mind, the IFRC said the lives of nearly 20 million people were at risk in the Horn of Africa and Nigeria in “one of the worst hunger crises in recent history”. This would be repeated, our colleagues argued, without “concerted efforts to build resilience on the continent”.

On the ground in the most vulnerable parts of the world, 2016 did not end well; we call it ‘a year of hunger’, and it was climate – both climate change and variability as much as conflict – that inflicted much of this suffering. The year started with the remains of the strong 2015–16 El Niño, transitioning to a La Niña that helped explain the drought in Somalia, for example.

Ironically, at the end of an exceptionally engaged and busy year for us, we allowed ourselves a moment of optimism as we believed we saw international action on climate moving forward; perhaps even gaining momentum.

The historic Paris agreement was not only ratified quicker than hoped, it also crossed the ‘55-55’ threshold that meant the UN was able to announce it was coming into force faster than anyone foresaw. The first round of high-level climate negotiations after Paris, COP 22 in the Marrakech, straddling the US presidential election, ended without major setback.

We argued that 2016 saw one of the first real examples of international action bridging humanitarian, development and climate work, in the form of the UN special envoys on El Niño and climate who presented for a blueprint highlighting the need to invest on a much larger scale ahead of predictable crises.

As well as ever-closer collaboration with the IFRC secretariat, we also intensified collaboration with the ICRC, including a presentation to Geneva staff on the Paris agreement and the way we believe climate affects the International Committee’s work.

In fact, in 2017 we are looking further ahead still, helping to build scientific foundations for climate decisions for many years to come. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for example, is commencing work on its special report on ‘1.5 degrees’ as well as its next full assessment cycle, the sixth.

In the context of the immense humanitarian challenges the world faced in 2016 and new ones ahead, we are proud of the Climate Centre’s small but significant contributions. We thank all our partners and look forward to continued joint efforts to better manage the rising risks.

by Ed Nijpels and Maarten van Aalst

Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, officiating at COP 22, said the entry into force of the Paris agreement was a cause both for celebration and a timely reminder of the high expectations raised. “No politician or citizen, no business manager or investor can doubt that the transformation to a low-emission, resilient society and economy is the singular determination of the community of nations,” she said.

At the end of the climate talks,the IFRC welcomed the commitment by governments to implement Paris and looked forward to seeing it translated into action. The Climate Centre also took part in the IFRC’s principal side-event at COP 22 on devolving climate finance, jointly organized with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

The 2016 Development & Climate Days brought many COP participants together to explore how to bridge the global ambition of the Paris agreement with local action. More than 300 people attended the two-day event whose theme was Global ambition. Local action. Climate resilience for all, and which also for the first time included the private sector.

D&C Days is well known for encouraging innovative thinking and outside-the-box sessions, and last year the Climate Centre introduced new games, a flash mob on heatwave risks by young volunteers of the Moroccan Red Crescent, a ‘Taste the Change’ session, and a virtual-reality experience to enable people to experience the complexities of climate decisions.
The Climate Centre took an active part in the ‘loss and damage’ discussions which mainly dealt with the implementation of the two-year work-plan of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM). We believe the needs of the most vulnerable groups were considered and addressed by the WIM executive partly as a result of this engagement.

A key Climate Centre contribution was at a specialist financial committee in Manila where we shared experiences and learning on managing climate risks through social protection and FbF. We also successfully advocated for the IFRC to be included in a global task force on displacement that was having its first meeting in 2017.

We have created new tools on emerging themes that now include preparedness for urban floods and social protection.These and others were used in capacity-building initiatives around the world, including a training session organized with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in West Africa and a workshop that brought together humanitarians and ‘facilitation champions’ of the Applied Improvisation Network.

A World Bank annual retreat involved 150 senior managers in playing our ‘Decisions for the Decade’ game to explore climate risk and uncertainty.

In the Asia-Pacific region, our tools were used during high-level regional meetings including the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Delhi. They also helped shape workshops at the local level – on climate action in the Philippines, for example.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization commissioned a game on ‘shock-responsive social protection’, played at the UN climate talks in Marrakech.

The Climate Centre teamed up with the Madagascar Red Cross to adapt climate games to local context to enable communities to simulate climate impacts in a safe environment and develop their own solutions. At least 1,300 people took part while 80 Red Cross staff and volunteers facilitated.

Together with UNICEF and other partners we have created ‘Handwashing with Ananse’, an educational approach which engages children in school through storytelling, songs, dance, acting and play. Ernest Nyame of the Ghana Red Cross became an IFRC ‘global innovation pioneer’ as part of this and is now planning to expand the work to reach 20,000 children.

Together with Plan International, the Philippine Red Cross and other partners, we have also created Y-Adapt – ‘Youth action on developing adaptation plans for tomorrow’ – a curriculum consisting of games and play. This helps young people to understand climate change and to take practical action to adapt to the changing climate in their community.

The year 2016 also saw new areas of innovation by the Climate Centre.

Blending interactivity with innovative approaches to data visualization in virtual reality, the Climate Centre brought FbF to a new level. Based on historical data on flood impacts as depicted in a virtual data sculpture, players establish a danger level so that when flood risks emerge, the FbF system automatically triggers funding for preventive measures.

During a seemingly normal session at the UN climate talks in Marrakech, participants sensed that something unusual was about to happen. A disruptive yet peaceful group of people rush in and start a performance that blends music, movement and message. A simulated heatwave had arrived, and with it inspiration on how to manage the growing threat of extreme temperatures to city-dwellers.

Another new way to communicate risk is ‘edible data’. With culinary and visual arts as its medium, data cuisine sessions brought to D&C Days a sensory exploration of climate data and its implications for humanity.