Climate Charter

On 20 June 2022 we officially signed up to the Climate and Environment Charter, known as the Climate Charter, following on from the National Board agreeing to join in November 2021. 

The Charter was developed to help humanitarian organisations respond to climate change by clearly acknowledging the humanitarian basis of the climate crisis and the threat posed to the future of humanity. 

The Charter is a joint project between the International Federation Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The aim of the Charter is simple – to sign up a wide range of not-for-profits and charities to the key commitments.

Implementing the Charter looks different in each country. The Charter’s commitments signal high-level approaches to environmental sustainability and combatting climate change.

The commitments are:

• Commitment one: Step up our response to growing humanitarian needs and help people adapt to the impacts of the climate and environmental crisis. 
• Commitment two: Maximise the environmental sustainability of our work and rapidly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Commitment three: Embrace the leadership of local actors and communities. 
• Commitment four: Increase our capacity to understand climate and environmental risks and develop evidence-based solutions. 
• Commitment five: Work collaboratively across the humanitarian sector and beyond to strengthen climate and environmental action. 
• Commitment six: Use our influence to mobilise urgent and more ambitious climate action and environmental protection. 

The first two commitments are the most important as they describe what needs to be achieved, while the remaining signal how to achieve the first two. They draw from Movement values, such as working with local people and using our influence to keep climate on the agenda across Aotearoa New Zealand’s humanitarian sector. 

We’re now taking steps to put our commitments into action. These are our strongest climate commitments to date. We are one of the first 50 organisations to publicly submit targets to the ICRC and IFRC.

We want to acknowledge the mahi from our Sustainability Network in advocating for a strong climate response.