Climate change, conflict take centre stage at roundtable

AMMAN — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Jordan Red Crescent Society (JRCS) co-hosted a policy dialogue on climate change, conflict and resilience on June 19 in Amman. 

The roundtable was jointly organised with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and the Overseas Development Institute, according to an ICRC statement.

The roundtable provided a platform for 35 representatives of local authorities, humanitarian and development partners, researchers and donors working in the Middle East to discuss the interconnected vulnerabilities and impacts of climate change and conflict on populations and natural resources, the statement read.

“In our daily work, we witness the direct consequences of climate risk and conflict on the lives and livelihoods of communities,” Jurg Montani, the head of the ICRC delegation in Jordan, was quoted in the statement as saying.

“Therefore, we need to identify sustainable humanitarian action that will bolster their resilience and adaptation,” Montani said. 

He asserted that “Jordan is an important hub for humanitarian dialogue and policy debates on issues of such regional relevance. The diversity of stakeholders sitting around the table today will contribute to shaping the global policy on the climate and conflict nexus tomorrow”.

The roundtable also discussed how climate finance can increase people’s adaptation and resilience to the double vulnerability caused by conflict and climate change. 

Mohammed Al Hadid, the president of the JRCS, reiterated “the need to urge governments to adopt policies to secure enough finance to increase livelihoods, improve infrastructure and disaster risk management and strengthen compliance with international humanitarian law”. 

Hadid emphasised “the need to raise awareness of the practices that exacerbate the impact of climate change, thus contributing to build people’s resilience and reduce their vulnerability to climate change”. 

The roundtable held in Amman is the fourth in a global series of seven roundtables on climate change, conflict and resilience to be convened throughout 2019. Three roundtables have already been held so far in Kenya, the Ivory Coast and The Netherlands, and subsequent roundtables will take place in the Philippines, Washington, DC, with a concluding roundtable to be held in Geneva, the statement said.