Technical Report > Policy Brief
Blume C, Dallatomasinas S, Devine C, Goikolea I, Guevara M, et al.
15 November 2023
Most of the over 70 countries Médecins Sans Frontières /Doctors Without Borders (MSF) works in are in lower-income regions. They are facing not only humanitarian crises but also the most severe impacts of the climate emergency. In 2023, MSF continued to witness and respond to the consequences of extreme weather events around the world, including unprecedented flooding in South Sudan, severe cyclones in Myanmar and Madagascar, and the relentless heat and extended droughts that have driven millions to the edge of starvation throughout the Horn of Africa. This year, the organisation has also responded to epidemics of climate-sensitive diseases, including multiple concurrent cholera outbreaks and the rise of dengue and malaria in several areas, including in conflict-affected settings.
In a time of polycrisis, a simultaneous occurrence of multiple catastrophic events, MSF and other aid organisations are already struggling to meet the rising health and humanitarian needs. If human activities contributing to climate change and environmental degradation go unabated and unaddressed, including the continued dependence on fossil fuels, these needs will only escalate. With each fraction of a degree of global temperature rise, there will be further limitations on adaptation, and reckless losses and damages to lives, livelihoods, and general well-being.
Drawing on evidence from indicators in the 2023 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, MSF builds on previous experiences and messages with a focus on three key areas: MSF’s ongoing efforts to reduce its environmental impact; the challenges of adapting emergency humanitarian operations in a rapidly warming world; and the consequences of climate change when the capacities of communities to adapt are surpassed
In a time of polycrisis, a simultaneous occurrence of multiple catastrophic events, MSF and other aid organisations are already struggling to meet the rising health and humanitarian needs. If human activities contributing to climate change and environmental degradation go unabated and unaddressed, including the continued dependence on fossil fuels, these needs will only escalate. With each fraction of a degree of global temperature rise, there will be further limitations on adaptation, and reckless losses and damages to lives, livelihoods, and general well-being.
Drawing on evidence from indicators in the 2023 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, MSF builds on previous experiences and messages with a focus on three key areas: MSF’s ongoing efforts to reduce its environmental impact; the challenges of adapting emergency humanitarian operations in a rapidly warming world; and the consequences of climate change when the capacities of communities to adapt are surpassed
Journal Article > CommentaryAbstract
Innovation (Abingdon). 21 March 2019; Volume 33; DOI:10.1080/13511610.2019.1594718
Ten-Palomares M, Motard E
Innovation (Abingdon). 21 March 2019; Volume 33; DOI:10.1080/13511610.2019.1594718
Energy is essential to the provision of humanitarian aid, from operating medical and non-medical equipment, to storing vaccines and drugs. In the last decades, the contexts of intervention of humanitarian actors are getting more complex and volatile, sometimes leading to longer project lifespans. To respond to this evolving context, and at the same time to try to cope with the global ecological crisis, humanitarian actors are proposing new strategies toward more sustainable energy solutions in their operations. However, there is a lack of reflection regarding how energy is conceived and used in the humanitarian response. With the aim of shedding light on these issues, we take the case of Médecins Sans Frontières, a medical humanitarian organization who is rethinking its traditional logics of energy planning. The results reveal that even if some transformative approaches to energy are emerging in the humanitarian field, they face several challenges when putting them into practice. Challenges related to effectiveness and flexibility, core concerns of the humanitarian aid. The work invites to a deeper look at the plurality of those challenges, aiming to gain better understanding on the relationship between energy and society and its operational impact.