Technical Report > Policy Brief
Smiley S, McIver L, Schwerdtle PN, Lugli M, Claire A, et al.
2021 October 21
This brief details MSF’s experiences providing humanitarian assistance in contexts heavily affected by climate change; adapting our operations to climate-related threats; and working to reduce our environmental impact. Much like the process of ‘greening’ this vast, global movement, this brief is incomplete, imperfect: it tells an infinitely complex story from a limited range of perspectives, and poses more questions than it answers as we grapple with emergent facts. Given the imminent existential threat presented by current levels of environmental degradation, these limitations can probably be forgiven. But as we witness the human toll and deep injustice of the climate crisis, silence is, once again, not an option.
Technical Report > Policy Brief
Baxter LM, Cowan K, Devine C, Guevara M, Kalub D, et al.
2022 October 27
As an independent international medical humanitarian organisation responding to health crises in more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is seeing first-hand the suffering caused or exacerbated by climate change and environmental degradation, most often experienced by the most vulnerable people. We are witnessing how climate change directly threatens health – for example, through death and injury due to extreme weather – and how climate change impacts health indirectly, through food insecurity and shifting patterns of climate-sensitive infectious diseases.
Recognising the role of the climate crisis in amplifying humanitarian needs, MSF is adapting its operations to be more responsive to the populations it serves while also facing up to the challenges of measuring and reducing its own environmental footprint.
Recognising the role of the climate crisis in amplifying humanitarian needs, MSF is adapting its operations to be more responsive to the populations it serves while also facing up to the challenges of measuring and reducing its own environmental footprint.
Conference Material > Poster
Post N, Boobier L, Vyncke J, Tremblay LL
MSF Scientific Day International 2023. 2023 June 7
Technical Report > Policy Brief
Blume C, Dallatomasinas S, Devine C, Goikolea I, Guevara M, et al.
2023 November 15
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
Conference Material > Slide Presentation
Tremblay LL, Wardley T, Tesfay B, Galban-Horcajo F, West KP, et al.
MSF Scientific Day International 2023. 2023 June 7; DOI:10.57740/9wsa-v278
Technical Report > Policy Brief
Devine C, Guevara M, Belliveau LB, Jobanputra K, Serafini M, et al.
2019 November 1
KEY MESSAGES:
• Apply a cross-sector and interdisciplinary approach to humanitarian and global health responses and local, regional and international collaborations
• Identify, highlight and respond to the disproportionate needs of vulnerable groups
• Better understand the connections between climate-sensitive diseases and climate variability to improve humanitarian planning and responses based on predicted increases in disease burdens in already-vulnerable populations
• Urgently enhance cholera preparedness and response in countries without surveillance capacity
• Develop monitoring and evaluation frameworks and better document risks and interventions with a climate change lens, update health needs assessments, analyze patterns and changes over time and contribute data to operational research
• Document environmental health-related and climate change effects on vulnerable populations to contribute to broader policy advocacy and legal initiatives
• Identify and reduce health disparities in urban slums, including through ensuring access to services and provision of mental health support
• Provide protection for people fleeing including through urging respect and development of people-centred policies
• Recognise that human needs outstrip the humanitarian response: as such, health considerations should be integrated into national and international mitigation planning to reduce suffering
• Invest funds in strengthened humanitarian responses
• Commit to efforts to rapidly and exponentially reduce the negative environmental impact of global health and humanitarian organizations, including MSF, in line with medical ethics.
• Apply a cross-sector and interdisciplinary approach to humanitarian and global health responses and local, regional and international collaborations
• Identify, highlight and respond to the disproportionate needs of vulnerable groups
• Better understand the connections between climate-sensitive diseases and climate variability to improve humanitarian planning and responses based on predicted increases in disease burdens in already-vulnerable populations
• Urgently enhance cholera preparedness and response in countries without surveillance capacity
• Develop monitoring and evaluation frameworks and better document risks and interventions with a climate change lens, update health needs assessments, analyze patterns and changes over time and contribute data to operational research
• Document environmental health-related and climate change effects on vulnerable populations to contribute to broader policy advocacy and legal initiatives
• Identify and reduce health disparities in urban slums, including through ensuring access to services and provision of mental health support
• Provide protection for people fleeing including through urging respect and development of people-centred policies
• Recognise that human needs outstrip the humanitarian response: as such, health considerations should be integrated into national and international mitigation planning to reduce suffering
• Invest funds in strengthened humanitarian responses
• Commit to efforts to rapidly and exponentially reduce the negative environmental impact of global health and humanitarian organizations, including MSF, in line with medical ethics.
Journal Article > ReviewFull Text
One Earth. 2022 April 15; Volume 5 (Issue 4); 336-350.; DOI:10.1016/j.oneear.2022.03.011
Alcayna T, Fletcher I, Gibb R, Tremblay LL, Funk S, et al.
One Earth. 2022 April 15; Volume 5 (Issue 4); 336-350.; DOI:10.1016/j.oneear.2022.03.011
Outbreaks of climate-sensitive infectious diseases (CSID) in the aftermath of extreme climatic events, such as floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, and heatwaves, are of high public health concern. Recent advances in forecasting of extreme climatic events have prompted a growing interest in the development of prediction models to anticipate CSID risk, yet the evidence base linking extreme climate events to CSID outbreaks to date has not been collated and synthesized. This review identifies potential hydrometeorological triggers of outbreaks and highlights gaps in knowledge on the causal chain between extreme events and outbreaks. We found higher evidence and higher agreement on the links between extreme climatic events and water-borne diseases than for vector-borne diseases. In addition, we found a substantial lack of evidence on the links between extreme climatic events and underlying vulnerability and exposure factors. This review helps inform trigger design for CSID prediction models for anticipatory public health action.