INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENT INTO HUMANITARIAN ACTION Tom Delrue Programme Manager, Environment, Humanitarian Action and Early Recovery

CONFLICTS AND DISASTERS ENVIRONMENT DAMAGED, DEGRADED AND DESTROYED Environment-crisis linkages IMPACTS ON LIFE, HEALTH, LIVELIHOODS AND SECURITY

ENVIRONMENT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO, PERPETUATE AND FUEL CONFLICTS INCREASES VULNERABILITY TO FUTURE NATURAL HAZARDS HINDERS RELIEF OPERATIONS AND RECOVERY Environment-crisis linkages

Environmental impacts of humanitarian action Relief and recovery operations often exacerbate damage to the environment: Short-term/ad hoc planning of humanitarian operations Residual effects of large humanitarian presence Unsustainable use of natural resources exploitation leads to dependency and can be a future conflict driver (fuel/construction wood, water, wildlife, etc.)

Why mainstream environment? 1.Responding to the needs of humanitarian actors Humanitarian Reform: Environment as a cross-cutting issue (XCI) Feedback on ToRs Environment Reference Network and Resource Centre Requests from humanitarian actors for support

Why mainstream environment? 2. Responding to donor concerns EU Humanitarian Consensus Enhanced response capacity (ECHO) Good Humanitarian Donorship Principle 9

Why mainstream environment? 3.Following standards and principles of humanitarian aid Principle 8 of the Code of Conduct of the Red Cross Movement Sphere Project OECD/DAC Guidance for evaluating humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies

Why mainstream environment? 4. Increased need for humanitarian assistance Demographic, political/security and environmental factors (including climate change) More assistance with the same or smaller amount of funding UN, World Bank Report on Economics of Disaster Prevention

Why mainstream environment? 5. Reduces vulnerability and supports disaster risk reduction Reduce the environmental drivers of conflicts and disasters Enhances capacity to avoid/reduce disaster impacts through environmental management Enables building back better: safer, greener and more sustainably Increases resilience and reduces disaster risks

Why mainstream environment?

Examples of successful integration of environment into humanitarian settings HAITI Provision of technical environmental expertise to improve humanitarian project design and sustainability of operations (technical assistance facility)

Examples of successful integration of environment into humanitarian settings SUDAN Integrated water resource management Environment marker Soil stabilized blocks

Examples of successful integration of environment into humanitarian settings DR CONGO/HAITI/SUDAN Fuel-efficient stoves Alternative energy sources

Constraints faced by humanitarian actors Lack of awareness: the ‘green is expensive’ misconception Lack of capacity/expertise Short-term planning/response mode The ‘life-saving’ criteria

Constraints of cross-cutting issues Lack of sufficient capacity to respond to needs Despite global capacity-building and recommendations in several cluster evaluations, the Humanitarian Reform process has not succeeded in fully integrating XCI Not obvious to integrate coordination/staff costs (main ‘operational cost’ is providing support, capacity-building, expertise, coordination)

UNEP’s objectives 1. Influence humanitarian policies (actors and donors)  Participating in IASC subsidiary bodies/cluster policy and operations  Inter-cluster coordination  Increasing accountability to ensure agencies integrate environmental considerations 2. Information/knowledge-sharing  Environment Reference Network and Online Resource Centre on Mainstreaming Environment (toolkits, best practices, policy guidelines)  Improving awareness, understanding, standardization and use of existing tools  Cost-benefit analysis

3. Capacity-building for humanitarians to deliver more efficiently and sustainably  Training on integrating environment into humanitarian action at global/country level  Integrating environmental and risk reduction concerns in post- crisis assessments and recovery/development plans  Awareness-raising at policy/decision-making level 4. Real-time technical environmental assistance to the humanitarian community (e.g. Haiti, Sudan) 5. Contribute to linking relief, rehabilitation and development

Integration at any point in time Integrating environment Recovery DRR Preparedness Emergency response

Integrating environment: a win-win Shortens emergency timespan and enhances restoration of livelihoods Preserves natural resources crucial to recovery Reduces vulnerability Avoids institutionalization of the emergency and a protracted state of dependency Impact on socio-economic recovery, gender, protection and poverty alleviation (e.g. improved stoves) Life saving – time saving – cost saving = Increased return on investment

Thank you Tom Delrue Environment, Humanitarian Action and Early Recovery Tel: Mob: