Priority areas

Linking key priorities and addressing complexity

The central part of the work of the Climate Centre will be support to the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, and we have identified two flagship themes and a selection of priority areas of growth, as outlined in our new Strategy 2021–2025.

The Climate Centre will continue to support the Movement Ambitions to Address the Climate Crisis, the IFRC’s Strategy 2030, its Plan and Budget 2021–2025, and its climate-related priorities, as well as the climate priorities in the ICRC’s Strategy 2019–2022.

One flagship theme is the accelerating drive to a strategic shift toward anticipatory thinking and action. Approaches such as forecast-based assistance have remained in project mode or are small-scale, but our vision is to make it a key modus operandi for humanitarian work and risk-informed development.

Secondly, heatwaves, among the deadliest disasters, and they are getting stronger and more frequent. Heatwaves are felt most acutely in urban areas where two-thirds of the world’s people will live by 2050.

We argue that heatwaves are largely predictable, and many of their adverse effects are preventable with simple, low-cost actions. The Climate Centre will support the IFRC’s 2025 goal to ensure that 250 million people are covered by good heat action plans and/or early warning in at least 150 cities and towns.

Strengthening Movement youth engagement to take meaningful climate action through action and advocacy is one of our five thematic areas.

Helping vulnerable urban communities understand and adapt to the climate risks they face, is another, alongside equipping National Societies with the tools they need to foster urban climate action at scale.

Then we will look at what has become known as the climate-conflict nexus by working with the ICRC and its delegations to help communities manage future stresses caused by this combination.

We also plan to make social protection responsive to climate while reducing poverty and vulnerability.

Finally we look to scale up Virtually Amazing, making virtual engagement a new norm for the humanitarian sector and obviating the need for carbon-intensive travel.