Now Available-Recording of the 7th Session of the ICVA Climate Series 

Access the audio and video recordings of a webinar on Loss and Damage as part of the Learning Stream on Climate Change and Humanitarian Action

On 25 August, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies, together with PHAP organized a webinar in the Learning Stream on Climate Change and Humanitarian Action that explained what Loss and Damage is and how it could support – and be supported by – existing humanitarian finance mechanisms. The session explored the losses and damages experienced by individuals, communities, and governments and how adequate funding for loss and damage could reduce the impact of short-term, protracted, and slow onset crises.

The event was started off by Mattias Söderberg, Chief Advisor, DanChurchAid who provided participants with a clear overview of what climate-induced loss and damage is within the climate debate, how humanitarian actors are making commitments to avert, minimize, and address L&D. He also explained the different perspectives between humanitarian and climate and how these two can work together to tackle L&D. Providing a local perspective of L&D was Jeffrey Maganya, Regional Head of Programmes, Horn, East and Central Africa, Oxfam International, who spoke on putting a face to the statistics of children, the elderly, people with disabilities and women as those who are dealing with the adverse effects of weather events. He went on further to categorize the conceptual response L&D into the humanitarian response, resilience building and the development approach.

Krity Shrestha, Program and Advocacy Advisor, Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, highlighted the work done by her organization and spoke on the various non-economic loss and damage such as mental health deterioration as an aftereffect of flooding. She emphasized on next steps such as more climate finance, improved coordination with stakeholders, and greener indigenous technologies. A worthy mention of the recent IPCC report on Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability was made by Bettina Koelle, Senior Learning Specialist, Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Centre. She highlighted the modalities and strategies for humanitarian NGOs to engage in the preparatory work for 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) and beyond. 

As part of ICVA's and PHAP's Learning Stream on Climate Change and Humanitarian Action, this event follows the launch event of the series that introduced the Charter, the first session of the webinar that examined adapting to the impacts of the climate and environmental crises; the second session on maximizing the environmental sustainability of humanitarian work, the third session on practical tools and initiatives for reducing environmental impact in humanitarian action; the fourth session on embracing the leadership of local actors and communities in climate action; the fifth session on understanding and integrating climate and environment risk data in humanitarian action; and the sixth session on the Road to COP27: Strengthening humanitarian perspectives. 

If you missed this session, you can now access the video and audio podcast format recordings and event poll results on the event page